The Personist
11/22/08, 12:53 PM
Larusso - The Sweetest Place
Record Label: None
Release Date: October 5, 2007
Who?
Four guys from Salt Lake City, Utah, who have come together under a Karate Kid allusion of a moniker with the intent to induce rocking out to their Houston Calls-esque pop punk with a bit of a Midwestern accent.
How is it?
The EP is a step up from their debut album, and features stronger, tighter songs from this pop punk quartet. "Crutch" blends Houston Calls' synthesizer-sprinkled styling with New Found Glory's heavy guitars, and "Just A Man" features what can only be described as one hell of a bridge, starting soft and building to a blistering blast of arpeggiated guitar riffs and shouts for help from above. Unfortunately, though the songs themselves are quite good, they suffer from a lack of overall variation, pigeonholing Larusso as just another band among the many throngs wishing for success. Songs like the aforementioned "Just A Man" demonstrate how much better they are than that, and the closer, the balladic "Headlights," is proof that these guys can write songs well. Though not the greatest EP ever released, this band shows immense potential here, a potential that makes them a band to watch in the future.
Houston Calls; New Found Glory; Valencia
myspace.com/larusso (http://www.myspace.com/larusso)
Record Label: None
Release Date: October 5, 2007
Who?
Four guys from Salt Lake City, Utah, who have come together under a Karate Kid allusion of a moniker with the intent to induce rocking out to their Houston Calls-esque pop punk with a bit of a Midwestern accent.
How is it?
The EP is a step up from their debut album, and features stronger, tighter songs from this pop punk quartet. "Crutch" blends Houston Calls' synthesizer-sprinkled styling with New Found Glory's heavy guitars, and "Just A Man" features what can only be described as one hell of a bridge, starting soft and building to a blistering blast of arpeggiated guitar riffs and shouts for help from above. Unfortunately, though the songs themselves are quite good, they suffer from a lack of overall variation, pigeonholing Larusso as just another band among the many throngs wishing for success. Songs like the aforementioned "Just A Man" demonstrate how much better they are than that, and the closer, the balladic "Headlights," is proof that these guys can write songs well. Though not the greatest EP ever released, this band shows immense potential here, a potential that makes them a band to watch in the future.
Houston Calls; New Found Glory; Valencia
myspace.com/larusso (http://www.myspace.com/larusso)