Livan – Off The Grid

Moments after playing the first few seconds of Livan’s third album, Off The Grid, I’m transported back to my youth playing The Legend of Zelda on my sister’s Game Boy – entering into either a dark forest or a castle at the end of the level. Dark, ominous and electronically driven, that sensation pulls you in but also lasts for a few seconds. Livan then picks up the pace and starts display their real sound – one that leaves so much more to be desired.

British electro rock – Off The Grid somehow reminds me of the mid-nineties but A) I’m not sure if that is an accurate representation and B) even if it is, I’m not a fan.  The vocals are, not strained, but not comfortable either; almost as if they’ve been thrown through one too many filters to create the so-called perfect alternative vocals. They fall flat though, like an insanely poor Tool knock off. Other times they fall somewhere between that of Robbie Williams , Out of Your Mouth and Eiffel 65 (do you remember that song Blue? It was all the rage back in grade six). On The Silence, he pulls in a Matt Good vocal vibe, adding even more confusion to the mix.

The band somehow hits every cliché I can think of when it comes to alternative rock and they fail to take those clichés and make them unique in anyway. With a dark and gloomy sensation threaded throughout it all, Livan tries way too hard to be brooding which just sounds cheesy in the end. When they fully accept their synth pop leanings (like the chorus of Sad), they become bearable. Sadly, the verses completely ruin any momentum they had going.

At twenty five minutes, Off The Grid is way too long for just seven tracks. It feels forced and repetitive, bland and generic. It’s an alternative rock album without anything truly alternative attributed to it. British electro rock with maybe a grand total of three enjoyable minutes mixed haphazardly throughout. You can feel perfectly safe in choosing to pass on this one.