Lantern are Phildelphia based rock and roll band. They have just recently released a cassette compilation entitled “Burned Youth”. This tape collects unreleased tracks recorded between 2009 and 2011.
Over the past few years Lantern has released a slew of tapes, EPs, and singles, but this compilation shows a slightly different side of the band. Their other releases sound a lot like the psychotic punk rock of the Stooges. These recordings sound more like The Stones during their psychedelic period (before Brian Jones died, but while he was still losing it).
“Please Bleed Me Dry” starts the album with a blown out acoustic guitar, interwoven between a more metallic and surfy sounding electric guitar. This song is sweet, beautiful, masochistic, and an excellent starting point for this record. ”Walk Two Moons” features the shaker in a very prominent roll. The tempo is slow and dreamy, but at only a minute and twenty-four seconds this track does not drag on at all. On “Shake the 8-ball” the electric guitar takes the center stage adding a more aggressive element to the song. “Shake the 8-Ball” is followed by “I Don’t Know”, which is another bluesy jam about an unsure and hazy future.
“Strange Weather” is a more aggressive and punk rock than the preceding songs with vocals that are mixed loud and upfront. ”Bop-A-Bob” has a guitar riff that could have been written in the fifties by Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry, but this song is so overloaded, chaotic, and distorted they probably would have been committed and administered electro-shock treatment for recording something this psychotic in the 1950s. ”Alap/Emily” drops the beat and replaces it with the droning of a sitar. “Healing Force” has only one line: “Do you hear the healing the force of the universe” which is repeated over and over again for the duration of the track. It is hard to tell if this is a serious song or some sort of joke. This album ends with “Weird Weather” which is actually just a different version of “Strange Weather”. When I first listened to this record I assumed that it was some sort of concept album in which the final track revisited some of the themes and motifs of the earlier songs. Then when I read a little bit about this tape I realized it was a compilation. But even though these songs were recorded in separate sessions over a period of years they still flow together in completely cohesive and seamless manner.
“Bleed Me Dry”:
“Strange Weather”:
Genre/ Tags: Rock & Roll, Psychedelic, Garage, Lo-Fi
Burned Youth CS: Tracklist:
1.) Bleed Me Dry
2.) Walk Two Moons
3.) Shake The 8-Ball (Future’s Always Hazy)
4.) I Don’t Know
5.) Strange Weather
6.) Bop-A-Bop-A-Bop (I’m Yr Porkchop)
7.) Alap/Emily
8.) The Healing Force
9.) Weird Weather
Buy the cassette from Night People Records
Buy the digital album from Lantern’s Bandcamp
Connect with Lantern on Facebook
Go to Lantern’s Official Website
