The Loved Ones – Build and Burn

While it’s plain as day that I truly love Build & Burn, I still find myself at a lost for words to describe the album. After all, how does one successfully describe a CD that simultaneously fulfilled every one of their expectations all the while not sounding remotely close to what they had expected? It’s quite a conundrum but that’s what The Loved Ones have forced me to do.

For you see, The Loved Ones‘ sophomore album had a lot to live up to after their critically acclaimed debut. In fact, I think Build & Burn was my second most anticipated release of 2008 because if it came packed with even half of the pure soul and energy that lived within Keep Your Heart then it was poised to become an album worthy of high recognition.

The opening roar of Pretty Good Year immediately ignited my interest and right then I knew the newly expanded foursome had not failed me. Dave Hause’s vocals were the first clue. Passionate, energizing, worn and somehow tired, Hause remains one of my favorite vocalists around today. He pours his heart into the music and it comes through perfectly. Backed up by a more them competent set of musicians, The Loved Ones merge the influences of Bruce Springsteen with the likes of Against Me! and The Bouncing Souls (of whom two members actually produced the record). One listen to the opening guitar riff ofThe Bridge and you are mesmerized, the sudden drum beat to break up the power chords of Louisiana pumps the listener up and the thick bass line helps to cap off the album with the soothing love song I Swear. The sheer sincerity of the songs makes it possible to ignore the fact that they repeat the same line well over twenty times in Louisiana because its delivered with such passion and energy that you’re pulled into the song either way; and it’s damn catchy.

So really, the album is great and in that aspect it lived up to all expectations. However, the ways it was great was not what I had been expecting. Because while it has certain elements that are distinctly The Loved Ones (particularly the vocals), Build and Burn does not sound similar to Keep Your Heart. Their debut was fast, poppunk/skatepunk/whateveryouwannacallitpunk but their sophomore is vastly different. While it still falls into that poppunk/skatepunk/whateveryouwannacallitpunk category, the band’s sound has expanded so much and is so much more mature compared to it’s predecessor. There isn’t any song likeJane or 100k that just jump out at you (although Pretty Good Year and Louisiana come close), instead the album has a much stronger sense of fluidity within it. This enables them to successfully switch from the straight forward punk rock tracks like the aforementioned Pretty Good Year and Sarah’s Game to the four minute piano driven Selfish Masquerade and it all fits.

To hold the albums up side by side is almost impossible because their so vastly different and yet both such spectacular releases. The fact is that Build & Burn is the album The Loved Ones had to make. Keep Your Heart was just a continuation of their Self-titled EP and now they are reworking their style to save them for regurgitating the same album again and it works. Man oh man does it work.