The new one from Watford's Lakes is fairly engaging. Start Again, out on Friday via Know Hope Records, is full of math rock, for lack of a better term, and a consistently fresh approach to blending that sort of cerebral stuff with something more emotive and warm.
"No Excuses" and the title cut are enthusiastic, riffs colliding with vocals set atop a bed of propulsive rhythms. And while lots of Lakes' record is just like that, some of this, like the mellower "Mirrors" or the gently surging "Get Better" seem in debt to the sort of emo that gained some modest footholds with large audiences a few decades ago. Still, to their credit, Lakes rarely get lazy enough to rest too long in any of the styles on offer here. Start Again is winning throughout, with lots of energetic tunes that sort of re-affirm one's faith in the most basic rock forms.
Start Again is out on Friday via Know Hope Records.
[Photo: Lakes]