Album Reviews

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Letlive before “Fake History” or if I have, I didn’t make the effort of remembering them. In any case, this is their first release on Epitaph and their third overall and it’s one of the best post-hardcore albums I’ve heard so far this year. It originally came out on Tragic Hero Records in 2010 but is now being re-released with three additional tracks.

This band’s songs are like contortionists that twist and turn in every possible way while always maintaining a poppy and downright catchy finish. Much of this is thanks to a powerful and extremely versatile rhythm section who manage to hold it all together while vocalist Jason Aalon Butler proves himself to be one of the best new voices I had never heard up until now, taking both the screams and soaring clean vocals for his own account. Think of Glassjaw or the almighty Refused, it’s all there in a blistering mix of hardcore, punk, jazz and pure rock. “The Sick, Sick 6.8 Billion” comes with a solid groove while ripping your face off and “Enemies” takes a couple of cues from Deftones, which is never a bad thing.

I haven’t even mentioned “Casino Columbus” or the beautiful “Muther” or the balls-to-the-wall feel of “Renegade 86” but that would take me too long. Just take it from me that “Fake History” is a very exciting album and while it has been done before, it all still feels very fresh when these guys play it.