Leatherface
Horsebox
BYO
This full-length CD is Leatherface’s follow-up to their comeback split CD with Hot Water Music last year. Leatherface is to emo sort of like Fugazi is to straightedge, the revered Yoda band of the genre still going out and kicking butt in the clubs and other shows to the amazement of kids half their age.
As someone who is usually the oldest person in the clubs I’m either playing or spectating in (with the exception of these guys themselves, when I saw them touring with HWM last year!), I can respect that. This is good stuff too, fortunately, midtempo rock with some elements of punk and indie thrown in. As always, vocalist Frankie Stubbs sounds like he has been out drinking all night after shouting himself hoarse on the terraces at a football match. It can take some getting used to, and frankly I’m still working on it. But the material is really fine, including a great cover of Nick Cave’s “Ship Song” and a surprisingly effective take on “True Colors” (yes, the one that Cyndi Lauper did).
BYO Records, P.O. Box 67A64, Los Angeles, CA 90067; http://www.byorecords.com
