American Low Life

On its latest EP, Lawrence trio American Low Life lurches between hooky pop-punk sweetness and guttural hardcore growling and back again, like a Warped Tour Jekyll and Hyde. But far from struggling with an identity crisis, American Low Life seems perfectly content in its reluctance to settle into one genre. The individual tracks on In Vino Veritas run the stylebook of teased-up, angular haircuts — from heartfelt emo to melodic punk rock to near metalcore. There’s even a piano breakdown toward the end of “Countdown to Wide Awake and Physical” (all the songs have long, intentionally awkward titles) that sounds like a parody of Tom Waits, after which the song abruptly stops. Though sloppy and uneven, the band’s energy never lets up, and this somewhat makes up for the lack of formal coherence on In Vino. Considering that this is the band’s second release of 2009, American Low Life is clearly young and excited. Assuming these guys just want to have fun, they’re set. Expanding on their potential, however, is gonna take some decision making.