Rating: 4 Pulses
The Murfreesboro six-piece Stuck Lucky has proven they’re more than just another punk band with their high-energy live shows. Now they have orchestrated a record worth repeated listening.
Hate the Light of Day has all the makings of a memorable CD, complete with a weird calliope-sounding intro. Giving the album a sense of completeness and oneness, the theme comes back in the album’s final listed track, “Song for the Underling,” one of the most intricate and unexpected songs on HTLOD. The sick carnival-like sounds on this track are just listed as “other instruments” in the credits.
Don’t worry, there’s plenty of standard SL fast-paced and irresistible-to-not-dance-to passages too, but the record contains enough well-timed pace changes (the breakdown in “Adore, Admit, Admire”) to make it remarkably tasty. A couple of the choruses sound similar to one another, but overall, the songs are very different from each other.
The horns make me want to throw up . . . my hands, that is, in triumphant glee. There’s just something about the regal sounds of horns that adds a rich texture to the sound.
The trombone and trumpet compliment each other nicely. One song for example, “RFF,” features tight and precise trumpet ornamentations right after broad trombone sweeps.
Great brass melodies that will stick in your head for days (if not forever) pepper the album keeping every passage interesting.
And the bass! Andy makes every note count with little time to catch his breath. The high end-heavy bass tone is perfect for making his melodically-active sound cut through.
This constant movement and the smoothness of the horns add a sort of polish to the gritty and intense sound of the drums, vocals and guitar, which, as in much ska serves as more of a rhythm instrument laving room for the bass to take the lead.
The fittingly-abrasive voice of Jonzee is very distinct and intense and provides some catchy lyrical patterns. He attacks each song with the ferocity of the Tazmanian Devil.
HTLOD concludes with an unlisted treat recognizable to any SL concert goer. Though the record contains 15 tracks, it lasts barely 30 minutes, but it leaves me wanting more.
Muy Loco indeed boys.
