Rock music might not have the best reputation for intelligent dialogue and deep thought, but that’s okay; after all, it built its name on groove, grit, power, and musical muscle. You can’t have it all, can you? Well, apparently you can.
And Memories of Lebanon, the latest album from Fascination 127, is exactly that: the best of both worlds. A suite of songs that balance power and poignancy, music made at the counterpoint of kick ass music and thoughtful lyricism.
Built to some degree around a concept of how quickly cultural centres can fall, it takes Beirut, once known as the Las Vegas of the Middle East, as its point of reference and reminds us of its fall from a vibrant, western-looking city of the mid-twentieth century to a war-torn, unstable region in later years.
We get brooding rock and roll with “I’m Okay” and dark soundscapes that seem to blend pop-awareness with dense, almost shoegazing walls of sound. “Green Apple Sea” wanders some sax-soaked indie eloquence….A sort of Lou Reed, new wave, New York groove meets chiming, bluesy guitar lines, and “Transition Song” wraps things up with a spoken word, slow-burning, sultry slice of experimental rock and roll. Eloquence meets eclecticism meets energy….perfect.
Smarter than your average rock album, more experimental, adventurous, and rewarding, yet still happy to stick on foot on the monitor and one fist in the air when you just want to get down and boogie. As refreshing as it is unexpected.
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