Album Review: Letlive - The Blackest Beautiful

Album Rating: B

It was almost inevitable that Jason Aalon Butler would buy into his own hype eventually. Not many post-hardcore singers from recent years have garnered comparisons to vocal benchmark Daryl Palumbo, and of those even fewer have been deservedly so. After the release of Fake History however, Butler established himself as one of the talented minority. His frenetic live performances were backed up on record with hysterical harsh vocals and delectable cleans, and whilst the instrumentation too was stellar, it wasn't difficult to glean who the poster boy might be. The Blackest Beautiful sees Letlive play to Butler’s strengths to such a degree that it occasionally works to the band’s detriment, but whilst some of the rhythmic brilliance from albums past has been sacrificed for Butler’s whims and fancies, his zeal and talent are such that the decision is mostly justified.

Artist Of The Day - Letlive

Letlive provided post-hardcore fans with a rare dose of excitement in 2010 with the release of their second album Fake History. The hype was such, that you could scarcely enter a Letlive discussion without comparisons to Glassjaw and their seminal album Worship and Tribute being raised. Although these contrasts are often refuted, the fact that they’re even being made reflects favourably on the Los Angeles quartet, and many deem Letlive worthy of enough praise to be considered genuine contenders for post-hardcore eminence. It seems likely then, that if Letlive build on Fake History convincingly, the argument will be even more difficult to discredit.

With no new single officially due for release from new album The Blackest Beautiful until June 4th, many wonderfully grainy and distorted live copies have surfaced of the album’s final track “27 Club.” The little that can be gleaned from the low quality versions is all positive: the screams of front-man Jason Butler quash any fears of the band mellowing, the crunching riffs recall the heaviest moments of their debut, and the energy of the band has, if anything, increased. If you’re as excited as me to hear what The Blackest Beautiful might sound like, then check out the glimpses shown in the video below.

Live Review: Leeds Festival, Part 3 Of 3

Friday and Saturday of Leeds 2011 had been great, but even a cursory look at the lineup would tell you that the third and final day was where the fun and games lay. The NME/Radio 1 and Festival Republic Stages looked strong as ever, while the Lock-Up Stage made a welcome return after it had been transformed to the Dance Stage the day before. The days highlights didn't take much seeking out, though, since most of them were positioned on the Main Stage. Things came to a head with the festivals' first 'co-headliners,' The Strokes and Pulp, but there was also gold to be found earlier on in the day, with critical darlings The National, emo legends Jimmy Eat World and timeless festival veterans Madness all coming in late afternoon. It was a day that promised much, and proved to live up to every expectation and then some...

SUNDAY (28/08/2011)

After two days which had been mixed at best on the weather front, the sunshine finally made a long overdue appearance late on Sunday morning. This only worked to improve the atmosphere on site, but Main Stage openers The Joy Formidable still had the strong wind to contend with. Nevertheless, the Welsh rockers managed to battle the elements and played a solid set drawing from their excellent debut album The Big Roar - which is one of my personal favourites from this year. Some of their unnecessary instrumental jams did get lost in the bluster, but the quality of songs such as 'Whirring' and 'The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade' was more than enough to see them reign supreme. There are plenty of bands out there that try to resurrect the qualities of grunge and shoegaze, but few do it as well as this trio, and although this wasn't the best I've seen them it was still a solid way to get the day underway.

Letlive Acoustic Session

One of my favorite records this year was Letlive's Fake History. Over at MindEqualsBlown the band did an acoustic rendition of Homeless Jazz which I must say is quite excellent. Check out the video here or after the jump.