Just last week, a friend who is in the know, ‘the know‘ being what top quality new music is doing the rounds, pointed me in the direction of a young band from Warrington called The Lotts, telling me they were garage and very much “your bag, daddi-o” (he was recently cryogenically thawed out from the 1960’s).
The sound of The Lotts is very much rooted in the 60s and 70s, think garage rock and the more melodic of the punk bands and on this, their debut album, they set out their stall with a confidence and delivery that suggests they have a very bright future indeed.
She Don’t Care is a sparkling opener, with 100mph melodies, fantastic backing vocals and a statement of intent that suggests that this is going to be a fun ride indeed!
I Want You taps into to the spirit of Buzzcocks, with more fabulous melodies, whilst the sweet vocals are justaposed against a chaotic backing provided by the dual guitars of Henry Buchanan and Jamie Evans, whilst Cain Garcia (drums), and Ben Cunlife (Bass) provide the type of throbbing rhythm section upon which every great band is founded.
Track three is Wasted, and it enters the fray on a Primal Scream – Rocks drum intro, already you want to catch your breath but it is impossible as this is a juggernaut of an onslaught. Think The Clash and The Strokes meet the euphoric rush of Northern Uproar‘s Rollercoaster, a band who shined briefly but then dissipated under the weight of expectation of a Britpop crowd seeking another Oasis (one’s enough thank you very much).
The introduction to Make You Mine sounds like a garage take on Let’s Dance by Bowie and then morphs into what in places sounds like a more tuneful Sex Pistols version of Stepping Stone, and includes a blistering and down-low and dirty guitar solo. It also sounds vaguely reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys in places.
Every song thus far has been as catchy as fuck, tight and speed driven.
As if to accentuate the point, title track Get Obsessed is blast of raw power, and given the The Lotts are from Warrington, it takes from the best of Liverpool/Manchester with some New York new wave thrown into the mixer of this short, sharp attack on the senses.
Houndstooth, is mellow for them, in that it drops the pace to about 80mph but still has time for some raucous guitars accompanied by walls of backing vocals washing all over the song. Similarly, the quite ace Heart Attack evokes the spirit of Duane Eddy, that is if Duane Eddy was stuffed to the gills with amphetamine. It is a thrilling and blistering blast that makes way for what I presume will be a single.
Boyfriend includes real handclaps – always a plus – and an assured confidence that suggests The Lotts are here to stay. The nasty spirited terrace chant of “I’ll make you forget about your boyfriend” (a bit like Kaiser Chiefs I Predict a Riot) is positively prog for them because it is a full three minutes and thirty seconds long on an album that seemingly prides itself in not troubling the stopwatch beyond two minutes. It is fantastic and contains a shedload of ideas and influences, as does every single one of the songs here.
Baby Don’t Cry (another potential single) is another ‘long one‘ at 2.40 and as with everything that has gone before, it is a great tune jammed into a thrilling rush as is the following Criminal with police sirens cutting through the jagged punk rock guitars as Henry bellows out “I wanna be a criminal!”. The confidence on show is all consuming and will make you a believer too!
The spectre of Mark E Smith and The Fall ghosts over the introduction to Where Do We Go before the tempo rapidly speeds up so that normal service is resumed with a fast frenetic finish to the album…only it isn’t.
After the thrilling racket that has battered this listener into submission, After Hours is a mad ending that will have furrowed brows aplenty, because it consists of a female vocal alongside a mellow acoustic strum that belies the filth and fury that preceded it. It is a beautiful, if discombobulating ending, but it is the first suggestion that The Lotts have much more in their locker besides the speed rush excitement that has made up the other tracks.
As debut albums go, Get Obsessed (the arrogant title is reminiscent of the Manic Street Preachers exhortation ‘You Love Us‘) is an exciting entrance, and if The Lotts summon the same energy and sound live as they have done on Get Obsessed, you could be catching them on the cusp of something special. The Courteeners/Arctic Monkeys come to mind, partly because you can seem the same career trajectory that followed their wonderful debuts album.
Get Obsessed is up there. The Lotts have started out with something special and they seem sure in the knowledge that what they have produced is something worth getting obsessed over.
