LAPUSH
Someplace Closer to Here

(456)

First Appeared in The Music Box, June 2005, Volume 12, #6

Written by John Metzger

LAPUSH’s debut Someplace Closer to Here likely will score another major victory for the indie rock scene. Granted, the outing is being distributed through a subsidiary of Universal, and its soaring sonic architecture stands in striking contrast to the sort of lo-fi grit that typically adorns DIY projects. This, however, is merely the much-deserved happy ending that has emerged in the aftermath of the album’s birth within the home studio of front man Thom Donovan. Despite the fact that the group is based in St. Louis, its sound is decidedly British, and although there are hints of Oasis, The Smiths, and U2 lurking beneath the surface of its material, there’s little doubt that its music is aligned most closely with the majestic musings of both Travis and Radiohead.

Indeed, throughout Someplace Closer to Here, LAPUSH adorns its pop-fueled songs with experimental textures that capture the sweeping, bittersweet essence of the ups and downs of life and love, and its melancholy ruminations frequently erupt in a splendiferous stream of passionate, soul-infused elation. Unfortunately, there are a few too many moments on the effort when the band settles for mere mimicry of its idols, meandering through several well-crafted but instantly recognizable appropriations. At its best, however — the skittering beats, gliding vocals, and screaming guitars of Sticking Around; the psychedelic, Stone-Roses-meets-U2 swirl of Tout Le Monde; the aqueous keyboards that ripple through the hypnotically intense yearning of Say Something; and the crunchy, Church-like spaciousness of Aurora; for example — the ensemble certainly equals its heroes, even if it never succeeds in surpassing them.

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2005 The Music Box