American Low Life

Young people suck. For the old and the jaded, there’s nothing quite
like a sub-30-something filled with optimism and ambition to make you
miss your once-full head of hair even more. So if the punk kids just
won’t stay off your lawn, do whatever you can to avoid Lawrence
three-piece American Low Life’s self-titled EP. There’s nothing
polished or particularly cohesive here, but what you will find —
if you can stomach it — is a raw, bright-eyed steadfastness
that’s admirable in spite of its own naïveté. The album’s
opener, “Not Even the Drowning Could Have Purer Intentions,” is a stew
of punk guitars and hardcore growls, while the acoustic sob job “Hope
You Like the Ocean” seems to be in love with its own out-of-tune,
emotional excessiveness. There’s potential on this album’s four tracks
— let’s just hope that they can do something with them before the
cynicism sets in.