Lovesores - Bats From Planet Skull

Well I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the Lovesores broke up. The good news is that they've left us a parting gift in the form of one final recording that you can download for free. Bats From Planet Skull debuted on Bandcamp last week - only the second Lovesores full-length album and now sadly the last. But I'm not much for boo-hooing any band's demise. Not every rock and roll band is meant to last forever, and I'd rather have a group that's great for a few years than one that endures for decades in a state of decline or (even worse) mediocrity. I'm not saying that the Lovesores would have declined, but I will say they've bowed out at the very top of their game.

The final Lovesores tally over the past eight years was three singles, a couple of big ten-inches, and two long players - and all of it absolutely great! While there was always enough of a similarity between the Lovesores and Humpers to entice fans of the latter, it never seemed like Scott "Deluxe" Drake's new band was overshadowed by his old one. Drake refused to rest on his laurels, and he managed to assemble what was almost certainly the most formidable punk rock and roll band of the past decade. The lineup was consistent since 2014, with Alex Fast (bass), Boz Bennes (drums), Adam Kattau (guitar), and Saul Koll (guitar) matching every bit of Drake's vocal firepower. You'd have to look far and wide (and probably into the distant past) to find a stronger rhythm section and a more electrifying guitar tandem. More importantly, as a unit these guys forged a brand of rock and roll that was ferocious, exciting, and brought forth from a place deep in the soul. Bats From Planet Skull was recorded live in the basement last year, and it doesn't stray far (or at all) from the band's previous method of operation. This is the Lovesores doing what the Lovesores did best: raucous rock and roll marrying the defiant spirit and irresistible rhythms of the genre's roots to the guts and aggression of original era punk rock.

Kicking off with the blistering fury of "Some For Tomorrow (Some For Tonight)", this record is top-loaded with scorching guitars, an unstoppable beat, and typically red-hot howling on the part of living legend Drake. Even in this time of mandatory isolation, I can only picture these songs being performed in a packed dive bar as bodies fly and liquor flows. The band tears into tracks like "Hot Pants!" and "Psychic Dick" with a force and feeling that can only be summoned if you were born to rock and roll. "Belle in the Belfry" relaxes the pace a tad, then proceeds to hook you with a chorus that you cannot physically resist singing along with. "Bishop Of Worms", which pairs a punching garage rock riff with a classically sneering Drake vocal, is one of the most compelling Lovesores tracks of recent memory. "Creature (At The Top Of The Hill)", featuring music written by Bernadette from Gee Strings, is a stone cold punk ripper that concludes this album and the Lovesores' career in truly roaring fashion. I'm left wanting more, which is exactly the way it ought to be.

Why release an album after your band is broken up? Because you know in your heart that it's the best thing you've ever done! Bats From Planet Skull, just as much as anything the Lovesores released, captures the essence of this tremendous punk rock and roll band. Drake belts out these songs with as much conviction and intensity as ever, and backing him is a band that sounds fully determined to rock you into next week. Far from slowing down, the Lovesores were at full steam to the very end. Let us hope that this album turns out to be a million seller, requiring the assembly of multiple impostor Lovesores bands to meet the worldwide demand for touring, television appearances, and photo ops with world leaders.



-L.R.

https://lovesores.bandcamp.com/album/bats-from-planet-skull
https://www.facebook.com/TheLovesores