The Angry Lisas - Slate Violet
THE ANGRY LISAS RELEASE IRRESISTIBLE ‘SLATE VIOLET’
Portland, Oregon’s indie-rock outfit The Angry Lisas recently dropped Slate Violet, an album reflecting the myriad facets of memory – nostalgia, regret, gratitude, and sorrow.
The Angry Lisas
According to Sean Taylor, the band’s primary songwriter, “I’ve always had a really hard time letting go of things. There are these moments that stick in my brain that are really hard for me to stop thinking about. I overanalyze everything, every detail.”
For Sean, writing is as much a necessity as a creative expression. It’s a cathartic activity. Explaining, he says, “I need that process to do that for me. Cheap man’s therapy.”
Produced by Mike Sahm and The Angry Lisas, the album was engineered, mixed, and mastered by Sahm at Portland’s Dream Awake Audio. Violet Slate features Sean Taylor (guitar, vocals), Cody French (guitar), Daniel Marcus (bass), and Jason Howe (drums).
Since 2017, The Angry Lisas have released two albums and played throughout the West Coast, sharing the stage with John Moreland, John Calvin Abney, and Chad Price of Drag the River.
“True South” features heavy strata of guitars supported by Howe’s Jovian drums.
Encompassing 11-tracks, the album begins with “Heartland,” opening on delicate tones flowing into muscular, gleaming guitars riding a crunching rhythm topped by powerfully intense vocals, mirroring a vast array of emotions. Howe’s drumming drives the song with rumbling energy and finessed breaks, while a searing guitar solo infuses the tune with platinum notes.
Highlights include “Stonewaller,” vaguely reminiscent of Tom Petty, only more swashbuckling and swaggering. Hints of SoCal country-rock merge with the hefty alt-rock textures to form a pushing, tantalizingly brawny song with delicious rasping vocals.
“Twin Suns” travels on dark, gritty guitars roiling with tangs of grunge. Thick and viscous, the harmonics on this track surge with dirty textures. Sean’s grating voice snarls out grating timbres – primal and passionate.
There’s a delectable retro flavor to “Wingwalkers,” conjuring up memories of Bryan Adams with an extended bassline and glistening, almost jangly, guitars providing a dazzling wall-of-sound. “True South” features heavy strata of guitars supported by Howe’s Jovian drums. When the guitars soar on coruscating hues, it sends shivers up your spine.
The final track, “The Mountain,” rolls out on sparkling, tender guitars, imbuing the melody with intimate coloration. A fat bassline enters, filling the tune with cavernous depth, while the shimmering guitars float on lingering tones.
With Slate Violet, The Angry Lisas have produced one of the best indie-rock albums of 2020. You definitely want to listen to this album.
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