ALBUM REVIEW: Meanstreak – Love Gang
Originating from Denver, Colorado, LOVE GANG are a band that pride themselves on being able to bridge the gaps between classic rock and more experimental stylings, including Hammond organs and psychedelic guitar solos. Meanstreak is their second album and it was produced by Gian Ortiz in his home studio with all recordings completed on full analogue to tape to capture the raw sound.
With the descriptions of psychedelic guitar solos and the inclusion of a flautist in their line-up, expectations are high for an amalgamation of genres on the Meanstreak track list, but unfortunately it falls short of their own description. This eight-track release is shorter than what many have come to expect from a full-length release, but it still leaves room for potential deluxe releases. Of course, it is always commendable when an artist releases exactly how many songs they want instead of forcing out extra tracks just to reach a societal expectation.
The album opens with Death Ride, a classic rock track with some fun riffs and catchy rhythms, but ultimately nothing to write home about. The gruff vocals of Kam Wentworth are perfect for the genre and have that grit whilst remaining coherent, so it’s a bit of a shame that the last two minutes of this track have no vocals at all, just a repetitive rhythm with the occasional riff thrown in and a guitar solo at the end. It would have been a better decision to end the song after the last lyric, or have a solo to tie off the end, not an entire two minutes of repetitive drawl.
That seems to be a running theme on this record, with multiple tracks having drawn-out instrumentals within them, which admittedly isn’t all that rare for psychedelic rock but doesn’t really appear to be LOVE GANG‘s strength. Death Ride and the title track both have nearly two-minute instrumentals tacked onto the end but Headed Down To Mexico really takes the biscuit with a three-minute-long instrumental that really brings nothing to the song and is quite frankly boring. Blinded By Fear and Bad News also have ridiculously long instrumentals, in the middle and at the beginning respectively. It feels like a signature almost, but not one that is going to catch on.
The only song that stands out as ‘different’ on the album is Same Ol’ Blues, unsurprisingly, because of its more blues and country stylings. However, Same Ol’ Blues lives up to its title, with ironically, the entire track sounding the same, down to the line “same ol’ blues” being repeated an ungodly amount. You can probably learn the lyrics to the song in two listens. It could be a tongue-in-cheek song, but if it is, it isn’t executed strongly enough to make it obvious. Organist/flautist Leo Muñoz also feels frustratingly underutilised on this release; surely somewhere amongst their lengthy instrumental passages the band could have thrown in a flute or organ solo to spice things up.
As a whole, this album is quite easy listening, but it’s also easy to zone out of. There is nothing to grab your attention and keep it. It’s very reminiscent of those classic rock CD compilations your dad would pop on in the car for long distance journeys, just without the variety. There is nothing inherently bad about Meanstreak, but there also isn’t anything inherently great about it either.
Rating: 5/10
Meanstreak is out now via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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