Lee Corey Oswald – Regards

I first encountered Lee Corey Oswald when they shared a split with Three Man Cannon.  The Portland, Oregon quartet clearly outshone their counterpart, offering a competent six-song collection of dirty, garage-tinged indie-punk.  But their contributions weren’t without their own flaws, and the question remained: how would their formula hold up in full-length format?  For the most current answer, look no further than their twelve-track No Sleep Records debut, Regards. 

Regards marks the successful next step for Lee Corey Oswald.  With their foundation already laid, the band expands their thinking in exciting new directions.  Opener “Always Never” maintains grounds for previous comparisons with early Manchester Orchestra, but now invites fleeting likenesses to The Homeless Gospel Choir and Dandelion Snow.  Front man Lee Ellis comes across clearer and more confident, now able to harness an emotional charge heightening his wiry presence.  The crunchy riffs exist in a peculiar space between fettered post-punk and expressive pop-punk.  Guitars cease as Lee leads out the track in a poignant passage that instrumentally tapers off into a late-song vocal gully.  Accordingly, the band becomes progressively more abstract in their ambitions at targeted crossroads. 

In particular, a trio of astute piano driven tracks of varying lengths emerges amidst Regards’ typically upbeat mandate.  Surfacing early on, the minute-long piano piece, “Soda & Cigarettes,” channels the curious and downtrodden essence of Gregory Pepper And His Problems.  Amidst a solemn vocal harmony, a lonely imagery of static channels and an Internet outage forces this isolated protagonist to confront their hollow existence.  After a four song upsurge, “Sarah, Work Is A Four Letter Word” returns for a second intermission, this time pairing Lee’s soft-spoken words and piano with a somewhat peppier acoustic guitar.  The result culminates in a clean clap-along, emo-esque chorus that will have fans referencing The Smoking Popes.  Finally, “Red Balloons” rounds out the disc with a very cynical Andrew Jackson Jihad-like acoustic piece – the type that strives to make you chuckle in its cynicism.

The remainder of the disc competently holds the line at varying degrees of garage-tinged pop-punk.  “Living Room” bounds along briskly as its scratchy yet bubbly riffs propel the track to memory.  Many subsequent tracks follow suit, although those like the title track and “Progress” tend to overinvest in a catchy chorus, simply tagging the verse along like a little brother that just happens to be along for the ride.  But those that make their mark do so with glowing demarcation.  Even just the sugary “oo-o-oo” of female vocals opening “Snowglobe” jet the tender juvenile tale of nerves getting in the way to a special place on the album.  At other times, tight little passages like “every time a siren sounds a demon gets its wings” on “Still Shut Out” will perk ears. 

With Regards, Lee Corey Oswald has stepped out of the realm of splits, introductory EPs, demos and early albums, and gives prospective fans a diverse set of reasons to tune in to this finely polished full length.  With a solid handful of particularly memorable tunes and a backdrop of choruses that make the remainder much more than mere filler, Regards is a fine place to develop a career from.