Album Reviews

- by Nate Hennon

For the newcomer's to my writings, which is the majority of you, my history of punk rock began in the late 90's when my brother and I were allowed to start picking the radio station in the car during short trips around town. Becuase my brother was older he knew about the local Southern California Alternative rock stations, and since it was 1996, the airwaves were filled with early Pop Punk and 3rd Wave Ska. As I grew older and started to have some money of my own, I began to dig a little deeper into the genres., but it took me a lot of years to get past the radio as my primary tool discovery. Maybe it was my lack of resources or my secret love of 'bubble gum pop,' but it wasn't until my college years was I able to spread my music wings to discover things on my own.

I tell this story to help frame my impression of the latest album, ‘Monument,' by Bostons' Lions Lions (Lions x2 from here on). This album is full of energy and instantly reminded me of those bands you would hear on the radio in the early 2000s. With their metal style guitar riffs and vocal cadence, Lions x2 sound like they are doing a modern take on Circa Survive. By having the guitars push the songs forward, Lions x2 create a sound that has an edge but is super melodic.

Even though their post-hardcore/emocore sound has since peaked in popularity, the sure dynamic musicianship by the boys in Lions x2 is not lost on this reviewer.  There is a reason this type of music was very popular in the early 2000s, it required a lot of skill to pull it off, and I think Lions x2 nearly does it on this album.