And they say sequels are never better than the original...
Return to Webster Lake is a sequel of
sorts to A Loss For Words' critically-acclaimed first acoustic EP, Webster Lake. It features four songs
from the band’s 2011 full-length No
Sanctuary (#15 on Keep Calm and Carry On’s Top Albums of 2011), one song
from the band’s 2009 full-length The Kids
Can’t Lose, and three cover songs, but it is by no means inferior to the
original acoustic EP.
When I first looked at the track listing for Returning to
Webster Lake and saw that tracks 3-5 on No Sanctuary, “Pirouette”, “Raining
Excuses”, and “The Hammers Fall”, were included, I knew this
album would live up to the anticipation. That three song stretch was the best
on that album in my opinion, and was one of the better trifectas of the year.
The No Sanctuary songs transition remarkably well to
acoustic. One would think that the heavy chugging guitars of the bridge “Raining
Excuses” would be hard to transition to acoustics, but the band never ceases to
amaze, and the part features two part harmonies trading off with vocalist Matty
Arsenault shouting “It’s raining excuses, he makes you feel useless.” “Pirouette”
the first single from No Sanctuary and “The Hammers Fall” stay pretty faithful
to the original source material and retain much of the charm from the original
track. But the real standout from No Sanctuary tracks is “Finite” ft. Tay
Jardine of We Are the In Crowd. Jardine adds a lot to the sound of the track,
as does Arsenault’s perfect balance between the pop—rock vocals of the verses
and the all –out belting of the line “I won’t see with paralyzed eyes.” The
song is the prime example of an acoustic version outshining the original track.
Many Acceptance fans have been disappointed for years that
the Seattle rockers never released another album after their tremendous
full-length debut Phantoms. I
personally nominate A Loss For Words to write another full-length for the band.
If that material is anywhere close to as good as AL4W’s cover of the band’s “So
Contagious”, I’m pretty sure Acceptance’s fans would forget about that whole
six year break-up thing.
Matty Arsenault continues to prove day in and day out why he
is the most talented singer in pop-punk. High praise, I know, but once you’ve
heard the guy belt out both the bridge of “Raining Excuses” and the trading
R&B verses of Miguel and J. Cole in “All I Want is You”, you realize just
how versatile this man’s voice is. He’s a generational talent that honestly
deserves more recognition than he gets. Just the variety in the choices for
cover songs (from the punk of No Use for A Name’s "Soulmate" to the
aforementioned crooning of the Miguel R&B jam) shows just how great a range
he has.
In case you haven’t figured out by my two other acoustic EP
reviews in the past 2 months ( here and here), I really, really love acoustic
EPs. There is a certain simplicity and back to basics mindset that permeates in
these EPs, and I feel like the heartfelt emotion in the songs can come forward
even more in this particular setting. This is an album that is begging to be
played around bonfires all summer long.
Bottom Line: To put it quite bluntly, if you don’t go see A
Loss For Words on the Acoustic Basement at Warped Tour, you’re really messing
up.
Recommended if You Rock: Summer Camp, Pop singers in punk
music, Warped Tour
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