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LUDER - SOLUMINESENCE - SMALL STONE RECORDS
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In the early to mid nineties the ethereal sound of female fronted indie rock seemed to be all the rage. Then much like the flannel shirts that defined the time the trend died out slowly. |
Jump ahead fifteen years and enter the band Luder, a rock outfit that brings the idea of 90s female fronted indie rock into the present by adding a tinge of 70s power rock. The band’s newest studio offering “Soluminesence” is a bizarre album that sounds like it’s caught between two decades.
Don’t get me wrong, Soluminesence isn’t a carbon copy of anything else nor is it a rip off more precisely the record is a nod to two separate eras that have nothing to do with each other. Surprisingly Luder makes these styles work together to create a groove oriented sound that’s wound together with an other worldly vibe. Take the first track “Sing To Me” a high octane riff oriented rock jam. From there the album bleeds into the droning “S-Words” which calls up memories of My Bloody Valentine. As Soluminesence continues the volley back and forth between both styles is apparent but never boring. I wanted to fault the album for having a very one song one way the other another way structure but to be honest I enjoyed the songs too much to care.
One of the things Luder does that works so well for the album is to embrace the epic. The band seems to understand that the songs they’re writing will suffer if restrained so they allow them to open up into full blown epics. Even songs like “Selfish And Dumb” and “The Pox” that never get as loud as their counterparts still retain an epic feel to them. One of my favorite songs “Cold Hands, Warm Pants” feels like a giant thundering rock song that’s hidden behind a drug induced haze. Same with “Hot Girl On Girl Vampire Action”, another of my favorites, which blends a giant drone sound with an underlying melancholy vibe.
The backbone of Soluminesence as an album and Luder as a band are the vocals from Sue Lott who manages to lay in her quiet and understated style perfectly into the music. Lott sounds like a rainy day, not a storm but a day you’d stand in the woods under ash colored clouds and enjoy the rain dabbing your face. Her voice is equal parts sensitive, sweet and also sexy. Not in some bombastic pop singer way but in a whispering enigmatic way. In short every time you hear her voice you kind of want to make out with her. Lott’s voice reminds me of that girl you met at some art gallery who seemed a little bit worldlier, with awesome taste in music, cool clothes and a penchant for painting or sculpture. Nothing that goes on with Luder would work at all without her vocals behind it.
There are some flaws with Soluminesence mainly coming from song length. At times the tunes begin to drag out into unnecessary lengths that feel almost narcissistic. It’s a hard hustle with this kind of sound to keep everything from going on too long so I don’t fault the band too hard. Not to mention the overall album is so enjoyable the flaws kind of melt away. In a world where bands have a hard time keeping one style from sounding boring a band like Luder who can handle two or more is a really nice surprise.
