Restorations, since putting out their first 7” five years or so ago, have built brick by brick, releasing guitar-heavy, Americana-indebted rock songs that took root in Philadelphia’s punk scene and blossomed into something bigger than their initial part-time plans allowed for.
In truth, they’re not a stylistic fit with many of the bands that have made Philly such a creative hub in recent years, but it hasn’t mattered all that much. Beyond anything else, their solo-scarred songs have always been two things: honest and loud. Restorations make rock music for real life.
‘LP3’, recorded with the band’s long-time producer Jonathan Low, is an often thrilling next step that’s nevertheless entirely logical and straightforward. By removing any extraneous elements, they have crafted an album that sticks to its task throughout. It wants to move you; to hit you in the gut, then sling an arm around your shoulder and tell you about some stuff it’s been dealing with.
With the guitars bolstered by Ben Pierce’s keys and the compact, driving work of drummer Carlin Brown and bassist Dan Zimmerman, these nine songs are the work of a band in pretty good nick.
In particular, the tight-knit compositions and sharp delivery have allowed Jon Loudon to open up a bit more, his gruff melodies more effective here than at any point in the past. Separate Songs explodes into life late in the day, for example, complementing Misprint’s bare-bones bridge and the expansive, addictive chorus of Tiny Prayers.
Loudon’s words are barbed with worry and anxiety, the power of his vocals dredged from the sheer exhaustion of living with it day to day. “I always liked you, because you talk about the future,” he sings on The Future, a highlight at the tail of the running order. It’s a sentiment that perfectly encapsulates the album’s bruised optimism.
As time ticks away, the little things mount up. Many of them matter less and less, but those that stick around take their toll. ‘LP3’ is a record of great certainty in musical terms and sometimes one of doubt and flux thematically. It’ll make hairs on the back of your neck stand tall, crash into your eardrums and shine a light on a few places you’d usually be pretty happy to ignore. It’s majestic.
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