Lemuria - Get Better

Lemuria is a band from upstate New York who specialize in Discount-esque songs that, if their shows are any indication, manage to appeal to both the pop-punk crowd and the indie hipsters. Though the latter group will probably be quicker to compare their music to Rainer Maria than Discount, but both are apt comparisons.

This is the band’s first full-length record, after a number of splits and compilation contributions; most notably their split LP with Kind of Like Spitting, their split 7″ with the Ergs!, and their contributions to the NY vs. NJ Punk Rock Battle Royal!! compilation. (If you’re looking for this older material, check out The First Collection, available on CD and vinyl from Asian Man Records) And I do not hesitate to say this is first great album of 2008. It came out in January, so I’m safe on that one, but still, it’s excellent.

The record opens with the excellent “Pants,” which sets the tone well for the rest of the album. Lead singer/guitarist Sheena Ozzella’s vocals are absolutely wonderful. She’ll no doubt inspire countless crushes with that voice. The music is fairly rocking, more concerned with tunefulness than loud distortion; somewhat of a change from earlier material, but not dramatically. Their presence on the punk scene always struck me as sort of odd, since their music owes more to indie rock than punk rock. But regardless, the music rocks all the same. The tempos pick up here and there, most notably on the brief “Dogs,” which features some furious drumming over its minute and twenty seconds, before leading into the album highlight, “Get Some Sleep.”

The lyrics, almost entirely penned by drummer Alex Kerns, who also provides backing vocals, and lead vocals on a handful of songs. His lyrics seem to deal primarily with relationships, which is of course so uncommon in rock music. A friend of mine described them as emo, but I don’t know if I agree with that (or which wave of emo he’s referring to), since they seem to lack the requisite self-pity of modern emo.

Anyway, this is one of the best albums to hit in 2008. I cannot recommend this band highly enough.