Local punk rock trio Love and Squalor finally released its debut album, The Furiad, on Sept. 17, which displays its trite pent-up rage and frustration about stalling on the social ladder of life.
Love and Squalor's tracks alternate several genres, including pop punk, old school rock, screamo and metal, which give listeners a refreshing 25-minute mix.
Although they are local and new to the recording studio, the album is what the group needs to get them on a statewide tour.
The band gets points for recording at an Athens' studio, 3 Elliot Studios, and kudos for at least striving to create something original, but the amateur technique as well as vocalist and guitarist Jason Swearingen's songwriting will need to improve before ACRN puts it into rotation.
The album doesn't altogether suck, to put it bluntly. The Furiad has emotional lyrics that are relatable to the working-class 20-somethings of Appalachia, and Jeff Kell's drumbeats change incredibly smooth throughout each song, making them the best attribute by far.
But the melodies of each track seem like copycats of the band's influences: Rancid, Alkaline Trio and Bad Religion. It's a good mix of some of the biggest punk bands in history, but the one thing worse than a tribute band is an unoriginal band. The vocals on a majority of the tracks are low and monotone, which makes the six songs blend together - another common pet peeve among music listeners.
Joel-Robert Henderson, bassist and vocalist, had a reoccurring case of laryngitis during recording, so the band's singing might be better live.
Sometimes Love and Squalor seems unsure about the direction it wants to go in. For instance, on the song So Right their main objective seems to be to get it played on the radio. The next track, This Town Will Eat Us Alive
is pretty raw, but it seems like the group is holding back from playing what they really want to play.
The Furiad is definitely not the next And Out Come the Wolves or Tell All Your Friends; in fact, it might be a sin to mention their names in the same sentence. But the guys in Love and Squalor have a good start to finding their own voice. 17
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Kelly Schwaberow
