LOST IN LINE are:
Paul - Vocals / Guitar, Jae - Guitar / Vocals, Steve - Bass / Vocals, Adam - Drums
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REVIEWS:
Die Shellsuit, Die! [UK]
Subba-Cultcha.com [UK]
ThePunkSite.com [USA]
Bombshellzine.com
www.myspace.com
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LOST IN LINE - Smiles That Scream
It seems that these Australians skate-punks have both the best and worst timing in the world. As a summer release, this should bring back memories of finishing school, festivals, BBQs, underage drinking… You know, all the good stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a 2008 summer release, so it’s not exactly in vogue. Even if this was 1998, all the Fat Wreck and Epitaph bands that these guys take their cue from were already on the way out, so the chances of people taking notice today are fairly slim. And that’s a shame, since this deserves to do well.
I could complain that there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before. The obligatory drum fill and ringing guitar chord opening, the busy NOFX-aping bass lines, the Bad Religion vocal harmonies, the bleeding heart/bad government/don’t let life get you down lyrics. It’s not likely to change the world, but we don’t want it to, or need it to. Because fortunately, it’s all done well, and with enough energy that you can’t help but let it uplift you. Throw in a couple of moments that do start to push the boundaries, like the extended melodic ending of Restored, and the more metallic riffing on AA-11, and you have an album that slowly wheedles it’s way into your head until you somehow find yourself humming the tunes even when the CD has long since finished.
Sometimes you don’t need a band to make great leaps forward in music. It can be enough just to have a solid album of catchy tunes, played well, by people who are obviously enjoying themselves. I just hope that the enjoyment will make up for the serious amount of slogging they’ll have to put in.
7/10
Review by: Michael Freeman
LOST IN LINE - Smiles That Scream
Scream that it starts of badly, and smile that it ends in a happy ending.
This is a fairly chunky, melodic punk rock, from Australia’s Lost In Line, particularly on their debut album ‘Smiles That Scream.’ The opening track ‘The Balance’ sounds like a dulled version of Alkaline Trio minus the spiky dark wit. However on ‘The Brightness’ they perk up quite a bit and there’s an extensive and a bit more diverse guitar work going on which attempts to push the song forward into people’s melodies, and its not to far from the ruggedness of fellow Aussies The Living End. The rest of the songs kind of fall into the blandest and vaguest form of skate punk/NoFX style punk and doesn’t really rise above much above that.
‘Faces In The Dark’ has vocals that sound muffled with a slight wining sound, and the guitars don’t really go above midway on the amplifier, and on ‘Choking On Words’ he sounds like the most bored person ever who is quite literally choking on his own words.
However with the second half of the album it seems to get a bit better, on ‘Restored’ the guitar attack is a bit more diverse with a good bit of chugging guitar riffery, with the singer asking ‘who is going to save the world?’ throughout the song, well its not going to be Down In Line. And also ‘The Sky Is Falling’ points at something that is even more diverse, and it has a pondering, almost sorrowful tone to it. Then the title track comes full of confidence and a bit of rage and passion too. So instead of muffling through the track or rushing through the track without leaving an impression which they did through the first few tracks, the later tracks show the real potential of Lost In Line to leave a good impression. ‘AA-11’ has a particularly surprising optimistic charm to it, which weaves its riffs in to your brain.
The problem is that Down In Line’s debut album ‘Smiles That Scream’ just sounds a bit too retro, and could be any record from the punk scene really. But then it is their first album so maybe they can learn from what went wrong on this record. So not quite the perfect the potential album, but it has a fuzzy charm which makes you forget about the bad parts of this record.
3/5
Review by: Ben Bradford
LOST IN LINE - Smiles That Scream
Style is a cyclical thing, and punk rock’s pretty much no exception to that. Goes around, comes around, etc. Every few years we’ve got another dead horse to flog – remember the garage-rock fervor that swept Maximum Rocknroll’s review section in the mid-to-late 90s, reaching such a fever pitch that the genre was virtually all they were reviewing or interviewing back then? So, shit, if it’s okay nowadays to relentlessly exhume the well-trod corpses of 1984-era hardcore or 1978 Dangerhouse-style punk – whatever, take your pick – then why shouldn’t bands still be kicking out signature Epitaph “melodic hardcore” like 1995 hadn’t already come and gone? Why the hell not?
When you consider it, Lost In Line must honestly love the living piss out of what they’re playing – because this type of music just isn’t moving units any more. The genre’s been cashed out for nearly a decade. Epitaph’s skate-rock roster has gone the way of hackneyed nu-metal and emaciated dudes with shitty haircuts playing a painful concoction of “shrieking metal/hardcore coupled with pretty, melodic singing parts.”
I mean, skate-rock’s played out, dude. It isn’t 1995 anymore, and it never will be again. The point is, I’m sure Lost In Line knows that.
So it’s obvious that if the band - with their metronomic, kick-heavy drumming, charging guitars that weave around noodling high-end solos and a vocalist that can really sing and hit all the perfect notes – wants to sound almost exactly like Pulley or Ten Foot Pole did over ten years ago, which they do, it’s because they want to. They’re good enough musicians that they could be copying whatever flavor-of-the-month genre is hot right now. Instead, they’re playing this over-and-done-with melodic skate-rock shit, which I find a little endearing, if only for nostalgic purposes.
So that’s it. It’s tight, melodic hardcore that can snap off a solo or tech drumfill or a layered vocal whoa-whoa on a dime. Spot-on production that could’ve been done at Westbeach back in the day. Lyrics that discuss personal issues in that requisitely vague manner – but they’re actually a nod or two above the general crap that often gets passed off with the genre. To sum it up, I don’t know if I’ll ever play this thing again, but Lost In Line are definitely good at what they’re doing, and they’re doing it decisively.
3/5
Review by Keith Rosson
LOST IN LINE - Smiles That Scream
Ahhh how I long for solid 90's pop punk, it feels like it has been a while... The bands that I grew up on are mostly still out there releasing, but it just doesn't feel the same in most cases. Here we have a sound that takes my ears back to the glory days, while still maintaining a modern vibe as well. If you grew up on bands like Lagwagon, No Use For A Name and pretty much the Fat Wreck catalogue, then this album will tickle your fancy to no end. At the same time if you didn't grow up on that style and are looking for something fresh and easy to get into then take the time and check this album out. Solid as a nut throughout, fast pace, tidy guitar work and melodic as fuck vocals. It's great to hear, and I certainly hope more bands give it a crack. Puts a lot of the US acts to shame as well, hopefully this album does good things, and opens up some eyes, as it simply is the best pop-punk to come out of this country in a number of years for sure.
5/5