Red Scare Industries, 30 April 2021
The Lillingtons are locked in on this tribute to melodic punk greats Enemy You.
Let’s lead with this: I’m a Lillingtons super fan. Toss on the early and sort of sophomoric Shit Out Of Luck and I’m happy. The sci-fi themed pop punk of Death By Television? Yes, please. Wanna listen to the Cold War spy sagas of Backchannel and The Too Late Show? Same. And the shape-shifting towards the occult-themed, metal-hued Stella Sapiente, I’m good with that, too. Now, you’re gonna tell me that The Lillingtons are covering a few David Jones-penned Enemy You songs? Get my headphones.
On Can Anybody Hear Me?, The Lillingtons play things pretty straight with no significant reinventions or reinterpretations. Instead, they play the songs mostly like Enemy You played the songs and hit all the right notes. “Automaton” takes the lead and Kody’s vocals sound fantastic. Same goes for the great backing vocals. It’s kind of crazy how much this Where No One Knows My Name song sounds like it could’ve been a Backchannel or Too Late Lillingtons number. Really, I could say the same for “72 Hours”, which is maybe my favorite song on here. The music sounds great, and again, so do the vocals. But this is maybe my favorite Enemy You song in the first place, with the rhythmic hooks, great melody, and catchy cadences that last a long time in my brain. It’s just a great song. “Awake” makes room for some cool lead guitar and the harmonizing on the chorus is pulled off well. But my favorite part of this one is the way Kody has his way with the vocal melody during the half-time re-start. “The Only One” has a great stop-and-go guitar riff and takes a dive into some “let’s be real” lyrics (really, lots of these songs do that – Enemy You never shied away from that sort of thing). “Hopes and Dreams” is one of the faster songs on here with some more terrific guitar lead on the bridges and some cool harmonizing to go along with it. And then it all wraps with the spoken clip “Untitled Yeebrah”. 12 minutes, no excess, just goodness.
I love The Lillingtons and I’ve got a soft spot for the great Enemy You, and on Can Anybody Hear Me?, the songs do all the good work. This record has collected a bunch of listens in the first week and it’s going to get more and more. You can’t go wrong here.
Favorite song: “72 Hours”
Favorite moment: when Kody’s vocal turn stretches out around the 1:10 part of “Automaton”
Favorite whatever else: the band’s donating a chunk of the proceeds to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
