by After reading the opening line of the press release, “Lying somewhere between the complexity of progressive rock and the brawn of metal, San Francisco’s The Living have an emotional pull to their sound that clicks instantly,” I wasn’t expecting much beyond hipsters trying to sound ironic. If I’m going to be honest, however, I was not just surprised by what I heard on the lead single from The Living’s self-titled debut album, but rather awestruck by “Delay.”
Despite the band claiming that the album hits on “progressive rock, metal, shoegaze, and pop,” what I hear is quite a bit of lots of influence from good old-fashioned rockers like Bruce Springsteen (especially in the chugging and mesmerizing opening guitar riff) and Dire Straits in the mid section, and somehow there’s an element of Husker Du in the mix.
Listen to the track and judge for yourself.
The Living will release their album on September 22nd.
As for that press release and band quote, see below:
Offering atmosphere-drenched lead guitar work soaring over earthy riffs pitted against desperate wailing vocals and a driving rhythm section tinged with just enough complexity, their multi-dimensional sound has been born and crafted from raw feeling and countless hours toiling in their tiny San Francisco practice space.
In a collective statement, the band said:
We recorded the album with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden in the bay area, where we’re from. We found a few days at the very end of December 2016 when most people would be visiting family and knocked it out. We recorded 11 songs and 75% of the entire recording process was done on the first day in the studio with the rest being completed in the following few days. It has a human and raw feel that sounds like it’s reaching for something. I’m really proud of the fact that the songs were born from jams in our practice space; almost nothing was composed prior to us jamming. Lyrically, it deals with love, deception, self-sabotage, isolation, and yearning. It turned out to be a very human rock album with touches of progressive rock, metal, shoegaze, and pop. It was an all-hands effort and we’re immensely proud.
In August 2017, The Living will embark on a West Coast tour in support of the album’s release.
Rock Hard \m/
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