[image=left]http://www.alternativenation.net/photos/data/500/479lock_and_key-thumb.jpg[/image]
Lock and Key - Pull Up the Floorboards Deep Elm (DER440)
There's a long and a short version of this review. The short version is, this is the record Hot Water Music should've made instead of 'The New What Next'. Of course, the short version requires a few assumptions, not least that you, like me, were somewhat disappointed with the Gainesville crew's sixth full lengther, so I suppose I'd better do the long version too.
The order of the day here is raw, unadulterated passion. This is stripped-to-the-bone, balls-to-the-wall melodic hardcore at it's gutteral, choking best. Immediately the most striking aspect of Lock and Key is that lead vocalist Ryan Shanahan is a tobacco advertising man's wet dream, coming across like he goes through at least a couple of packs a day and sounding extremely fucking cool at the end of it.
Coming in a close second, though, is their obvious ability to churn out infectious melody after infectious stuck-in-your-head-for-hours melody. Yeah, this is gritty, rough and ready punk rock, but it's eminently hummable, too, a remarkable testament to Lock and Key's capacity for combining pace and power with subtle invention.
'Process of Molting' displays this perfectly, starting slowly before Shanahan growls menacingly over a bed of interweaving guitars, Josh Hoey's bass threatening underneath. Keith Casella's drums pick up the pace, before the bridge breaks down and you can catch your breath, but it's all back up to speed for the intensely emotional chorus, Mike Vera's uplifting backing vocals - somewhat reminiscent of Fugazi's Guy Picciotto throughout this record - perfectly complementing Shanahan.
Sometimes, you worry that Shanahan is on the verge of losing it; there are moments when it seems he's just a few notes off cracking up altogether. The growl goes so low it almost sounds like he's squawking four octaves below everyone else. Mind you, it could just be that 'Pull Up the Floorboards' doesn't have the distinctive taste of Pro Tools all over it - as far too many 'punk' records have of late - and I've just forgotten what a real voice can sound like.
Racing through nine tracks before the magnificent closer, somewhat confusingly called 'Opening', Lock and Key are at their best when Shanahan and Vera combine vocally, and the machine gun fast, punchy style of the former, offset by Vera's higher pitched, more languorous, lazy mazy vocals make for a truly anthemic chorus.
So if you're a little cheesed off with Hot Water Music's decision to slow down and polish up, don't despair; Lock and Key are here for you. And if you're not, it doesn't matter. Lock and Key are no tribute band; they're still here for you.
'Pull Up the Floorboards' is out October 25th on Deep Elm. www.lockandkeyrock.com www.deepelm.com
