So you would think that when a band ends their relationship with their major label, starts over musically with a clean slate that the listener would finally get the true vision and essence of said band. Well, for the California boys of Lit and their new album, it seems that they have lost their identity and spend all thirteen songs aimlessly looking for it.
Gone are the days of the hit radio singles and videos featuring silicone queen Pamela Anderson eating people. They may have not been anything unique, but in the past they were enjoyable for what they were. They played a little harder and a little quicker and they fell into perfect timing. Lit were different in the best way possible during that point in time. They were a change of pace and definitely knew how to have fun and most people embraced that.
On their self-titled fourth album, Lit have apparently lost sight. This album has no clear objective and a limited sense of direction while the songs seem to venture into everywhere but quality terrain. Lit opens the album with a song full of cheap metal hooks that leaves you wondering if this is the real face of the band that has been hiding for years. The rest of the album goes back and forth trying to figure out if they are a pop rock band, a metal band, an alternative band, or a band that should have ended their success a few years ago.
What the heck did the band do with their lead singer? His vocals sound completely unlike their previous material and this is not for the better. I honestly have never heard a vocalist sound this unusual from one album to the next. You have to wonder now how much did the major label’s studio team enhance his vocals on their previous albums.
I also think they owe Robert Smith and The Cure a titanic apology for their blasphemous cover of “Pictures of You.” I don’t think anyone could have butchered this song anymore than Lit managed to.
I am left to wonder if the band actually listened to this album after they finished recording it. Maybe it would have helped to have a major label representative tell them this album was crap. The band explains that they wanted this album to represent their live show, but I pity those who hear this stuff live. One can ask whether their previous success was the work of the label or the band themselves. With Lit flying solo on their latest release and churning out a recipe for disaster, it leaves one to debate that maybe they were just like every alternative, record label built machine- because when they try to stand on their own, they fall flat on their faces.
(DRT Entertainment)