The members of the Atlanta, Georgia punk band Look Alive have taken the sacred oath first put forth into song by KISS, Anno Domini 1975: they rock and roll all night. It’s also entirely possible that they party ev-ver-ry day as well. But given that they’ve all been playing music for over ten years, and some are playing in other bands alongside Look Alive, they probably rock and roll all night AND day, too. It’s their raison d’être. Because really, who needs sleep when you’ve got rock? And roll, I mean. Not crack.
Their debut album, Mistakes & Milestones, set to be released by Autumn+Colour Records on July 2nd, is a perfect example of the commitment to the music. An epic array of aggressive beats and pumped up lyrics, it’s the kind of album that makes you want to violently jab your fist in the air until you break someone’s nose. And since Mistakes & Milestones is punk to the core, that person with the broken nose will just joyously scream back and bust open your chin while doing the pogo.
The song “Anchored”, the first full-length song on the album, is an anthem to the brave souls who finally find a way to stop the bullshit in their lives and tell everyone what they really think. There’s something so powerfully jarring when the first words sung on an album are, “Just let me take this opportunity to say the things I need to say to you.” Oh buddy, go right ahead, we are listening. The roaring vocals don’t fuck around: you can hear every bit of frustration and anger that went into the song dripping from each note. When Look Alive tells you they’ll see you in Hell, it definitely feels true.
The first single off the album is “Inquisition”, which carries with it a spirit I’ve noticed in many modern pop-punk songs – hometown pride. I know that seems like a weird thing for a punk band to sing about, but while they might hate their government, their girlfriends, their jobs, or their parents, the place they grew up is almost sacred. “This town means everything to me,” the song goes, “so I won’t go down easily.” Look Alive effortlessly capture that about the hometown that has such appeal for punk rockers. It’s where their old friends came from, it’s where they made their first mistakes, where they drank beer for the first time, where they got beat up for the first time. Look Alive’s spirited dedication to the uneasiness of moving on from that place is raw and awesome.
Watch the just-released Video for “Inquisition”
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Another great track off the album is “The Way I See It”, which is the kind of song that can nearly cause a car accident because you’re so busy tapping your foot and banging on the steering wheel and screaming out the lyrics that you may or may not be inching your car forward at a red light and almost ram into the guy in front of you. Maybe. It happens. So consider yourself warned. It’s one of those songs that tells you exactly how you’re feeling inside, which is in a way you didn’t even know you were feeling. “Everyone around me just seems more like an enemy/ but I don’t know why they don’t let me live my life/ the way I want it to be.” I’m a 24-years-old adult, I live on the opposite side of country from my parents, and I pay my own bills, but yes, that is exactly how I’m feeling right now. Thank you, Look Alive! This album is far cheaper and better than therapy.
Through unbelievable hard work and sacrifice, Look Alive has produced an album that’s as energetic as they’d have to be to keep making such incredible music. These guys have been around the musical block for a while, which gives them incomparable expertise in their playing and writing, but Look Alive only just formed in August of 2012, giving them new combinations and ideas that produces something wholly worthwhile.
Mistakes & Milestones is honest and to-the-point, and Look Alive gives their fans something fresh and exciting amongst the disorder in the current music scene.
~ By Gemma Solomons, Journalist/Jr. Editor – Music News
~ Band Photo Credit: Stageunderground
Pre-order your copy of Mistakes & Milestones today!
Mistakes & Milestones – 4 out of 5 skulls!
LOOK ALIVE IS: Jacob Causey, George McMullan, Cody Wellons, Jace Key, Patrick Cash
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