Love Letter : "Everyone Wants Something Beautiful"

This band which features ex-members of Defeater, plays a melodically atmospheric version of modern hard-core. The vocals are yelled in screamed in the more typical manner of the genre, while the guitars offer a wider range of sonic attacks. Touche Amor is a fair point of reference for where they are heading on this album.  It's not until "Misanthropic Holiday or a Vacation' that the narrative regarding the machine they are raging against becomes more defined. Social media and big pharma come across as objects their ire is aimed at. Sung vocals are mixed in the background, but enough to give another color and set up the brief breakdown. They do not follow any fixed formulas when it comes to songwriting.

There is more chaos in the building emotional storm that they build on "Popular Memes". Not the album's catchiest song, but it's effective for what they set out to do here. There is more of a spoken-word feel to "Un-housing Project". The music casts a gloomier shadow behind as the vocals feel almost more rapped to give a 90s feel when bands like Downset were once prominent. The political nature of the band's message focuses more on societal issues like homelessness and immigration. The post-rock groove of  "Settlements" keeps; lyrics set against bleakness rather than hope which I appreciate. Even though the vocals are a one-trick pony, the band manages to still make their songs dynamic.  

"Meds" finds their anger building along with the song's pace and gets more aggressive. Hard-core kids who want something that adheres more closely to the conventions of the genre will prefer this side of the band. The band continues to weave melodic backdrops for the vocals to yell over as the album progresses, leaving the guitars to carry most of the song's weight, but they are thoughtful enough players to pull this off. Normally the vocals would have begun to wear on me after eight songs of similar ranting, but the music distracts me from this. Having been a fan of this brand of emotional hardcore in the late 90s, I can attest that they have successfully captured the feel of the era. The political nature of the lyrics does wear on me as they proclaim things as truths that are matters of perspective. The only real perspective on the matter that I respect would be politics is only the puppet show to distract people from what is really going on, or I can get behind Zappa saying politics are the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex. 

The ranting gets a more dynamic backing track for "Late Stage Harm Reduction" which finds the chorus more explosive. It is interesting as they do shun all tendencies to introduce metallic elements into their sonic scope. The song maintains a steadier intensity and comes across as perhaps more punk. I will give this album a 9, the lyrics did get a little tiresome, but I do not care about them as much as I appreciate how that passion is translated musically. Sure they are raging for a machine, which defeats the essence of punk but such is the world we live in sometimes you have to dial out the static to enjoy the world around you. 

Everyone Wants Something Beautiful by Love Letter pst345