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Reviews: Lost Weekend ~ The Art of Wasting Time
Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2004 @ 08:42:19 PST
Topic: Reviews
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Artist: Lost Weekend
CD: The Art of Wasting Time
Home: Georgia
Style: Alt Country
Quote: " ... lulling sway of Lost Weekend’s tunes certainly has merit, and dysfunctional undercurrents ... make for a good time"
By Genevieve Will
Huge talents who will only become bigger once they master a sound of their own, Lost Weekend still brings a sound album to the table with their debut, The Art of Wasting Time. Resurrecting the long-ignored alt-country sound, they manage to sing about serious life-altering events in band members’ lives with a sincerely somber tone, while maintaining the positive rhythms their genre is known for. Nice swampy but driven guitar pervades the entirety of The Art of Wasting Time, and lead singer Scott Roberts occasionally pulls a few Morrissey-style vocals out of his hat. Altogether, I can enjoy this album but look forward to, with far more glee, their next release.
Unlike most others I‘ve heard, Scott Roberts’ voice carries this excitingly unpolished skinned element. All anticipation in the album lies with this voice, unsure of the next witty line, uncertain whether he’ll burst into maniacal giggling or violent tears. Sheri Roberts’ vocals added on “Endless Summer,” a brilliant song, have a poetic duet attribute that cannot go unnoticed. Guitar, also provided by Scott, remains solid throughout the album although strangely unoriginal. I have a curious feeling their sound, regardless of lyrics - "Pretending" is simply amazing - has far more capability than they’re allowing it, but the truth in that will have to be left until the next release. Mike Joswick’s percussion aptitude is hinted at in “Hey, You Kids, Get Out of my Yard!” yet similarly continues to be untapped the rest of the album. However, this white whale of a songwriter is not without instrumental redemption; the lulling sway of Lost Weekend’s tunes certainly has merit, and dysfunctional undercurrents in their sound make for a good time as well.
It’s evident that these guys are far too smart to really think they can make it on this album - their lyrics can tell you that much. Still, Lost Weekend takes remarkably insightful lyrics and pairs them with some Toad the Wet Sprocket/ Gin Blossoms/ REM instrumentation throughout the entire album until I feel I’m back in the 90s. Nothing against that decade at all, but in the great evolution of music, it seems Lost Weekend, while they escaped the 90s, haven’t caught up with 2004 quite yet. Tolerating a running loose of instrumental talents may be the ultimate solution for these guys, as it appears obvious they are would-be geniuses lacking a bit of musical originality.
http://lostweekendmusic.tripod.com
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