Review: Living With Lions - Holy Shit

Artist/Album: Living With Lions - Holy Shit!

Release date: 5/17/2011 (CD / vinyl / iTunes)

Label: Adeline Records

Living With Lions’ debut full length Make Your Mark made my top 10 albums of 2009. It was an under appreciated gem overshadowed by the likes of Title Fight’s The Last Thing You Forget, Polar Bear Club’s Chasing Hamburg, and Dear Landlord’s Dream Homes. LWL made sure that wouldn’t happen this time around by making a more mature release that is vocally and lyrically stronger than it’s predecessor. Slapping “Holy Shit” on the cover of a bible and using it for album art, sparking a heated controversy with Canadian politicians and religious fanatics, certainly helped them from being glanced over this time around as well. Oh yeah and did I mention, they replaced their lead vocalist, Matt Postal, with Stu Ross (Lowtalker / Misery Signals)! You didn’t notice? Neither did I, because the subtle shift in vocal delivery feels more like a natural progression than anything else. The leveling of melodies from contrasting wilhelm screams to lulling harmonies to a more evenly keeled rock vibe is exactly how a sophomore LWL record should sound. Don’t make the same mistake twice and pick up this record!

Lyrics sample: “(That night), The world fell to pieces, (Undone), The seam’s were ripped and useless, (I’m falling), Falling, I’m falling apart from you.”

For fans of: Polar Bear Club / Red City Radio / Make Do and Mend

Be sure to check out the video of the track “Honesty, Honestly” here.