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Atlas
Lipona
Reviewed by: John-Michael Bond [Mon, April 14, 2008 @ 1:33:44 PM]
We get a lot of records to review at Mammoth Press, and with the advent of digital release distribution that number is growing ever day. But it’s the rare exception where an unsigned band sends us their demo or album and we can find time to fit it in with the rest of the reviews. We’ll still listen to them, and give notes if you want, but getting your unsigned band a review is often hard due to the sheer number of releases we have to cover. So when we cover a self promoted, self released and self financed record, it’s a sign that record is something special and we think the band in question is going to go onto great things. Lipona is that kind of band and Atlas is that kind of record.
Hailing from Florida, a place better known for technical death metal and hardcore than skate punk, Lipona combine pieces from the melodic punk landscape to create their Atlas, a road map of all the things this reviewer loves about punk. There a moments of hardcore, poppy hooks, floods of gang vocals, elements of both skate punk and trash punk and a hundred other little splinters of the genre that come together to somehow give the band an equally unique and instantly recognizable sound.
There are no true clunkers here only a few weak moments in otherwise killer songs scattered about, like the screamed vocal intro on “Only Silence” which seem more screechy than brutal. Oh course that complaint is immediately forgotten when the actual music this “could have been a b-side on Illusion of Safety” gem starts, and the band shows off the strength of their riffs and melodies. The times where Lipona don’t shine are so few and far between that listing them all would be easy but pointless. It would be mostly nitpicking and the good here far outweighs the bad.
For example take the albums two absolute stand out tracks “Success Stories” and “The Citadel.” “Success Stories” easily mixes a simply massive chorus and bridge with the blisteringly fast skate punk of the verses to make the perfect punk rock work out song. Run in a circle (pit) for a minute, jump up and down with your fist in the air for a minute, repeat! Likewise “The Citadel” shows off the band’s impressive ability to intertwine emotion and intelligence into a punk song (and proper use of the word existential) with speed and a killer gang vocal sing-a-long.
Combine all of these wonderful traits with a stellar production job by Andy Jackson of Hot Rod Circuit fame that brings clarity instead of studio gloss to the record and you’ve got the complete package. Lipona are the real deal, with the drive to promote themselves and the songs to back up their promises. If Atlas is any indication these guys wont be dwelling in the ranks of the unsigned for long.
8.5 out of 10
RIYL: The Swellers, Rise Against, Slick Shoes or Thrice
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