Bearing in mind the likes of singer Colin Doran (Hundred Reasons), bassist Daniel Carter (A) and drummer Richie Mills (Cable) are lurking within their ranks, I suppose it's fair to refer to THE LUCKY NINE as a kind of Emo/ Metal/Indie hybrid supergroup of sorts.
Yes, I freely admit that's the kind of melange that is liable to have the bile rising rapidly in this reviewer's throat, but hold your horses: "True Crown Foundation Songs" actually isn't too bad. And certainly far better than any record made by a group who've been touring with the ghastly Bloodhound Gang should be. But hey, everyone's gotta eat, right?
Besides, the album's two opening tracks, "Vessel & Vine" and "Sweet Dreams Lilac" suggest that TLN have at least something to offer, even if it is rather quixotic. "Vessel & Vine" finds Mills' drums rolling ominously, guitars squalling like dentists' drills and Doran entering the picture by letting loose a hellish scream before the song takes in a Fugazi-style chug, splatches of electronica and the inevitable anthemic chorus. It's nothing new, but nonetheless a drilled and relatively agreeable racket. "Sweet Dreams Lilac", meanwhile, is more interesting again, initially coming on gentle and brooding a la Radiohead and giving Doran a chance to prove he can actually SING rather than simply gargle with araldite all night long.
Good start, but sadly they revert to type with tracks like "The Program" and "How Things Have Changed?": furious, cranium-melting thrashers with Doran making like a cross between Napalm Death's Lee Dorrian and one of the more animated of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu myth creatures. Dearie me. What's worse, actually, is that tracks like the latter also seemingly want to keep in touch with Ash-style pop-punk but end up falling resolutely between stools thanks to the individual leanings of the band members.
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And this chequered run of form continues as the album veers along blindly, hitting peaks and troughs seemingly at random. Songs like "The Light From Passing Cars" (expansive and impassioned, room for a piano) and "Jacques Molay Is Avenged" suggest TLN can handle decent 'ardcore-crossover pop with anthemic choruses without always descending into mindless, screeching hell. The trouble is, as soon as they get you onside, they let irritating efforts like "Hibernate" and the closing "Lake Placid" come in and bulldoze any thoughts of subtlety right out of the equation. Humbug.
To be fair, I imagine The Lucky Nine's whiplash energy would be excellent in a livid moshpit situation where Colin Doran can fling himself aroud to his heart's content and overall this is a good few degrees better than the yuckoid Emo/Metal cross-pollination I'd imagined to be on the cards. But even allowing for these mitigating circumstances, "True Crown Foundation Songs" broth is ultimated spoiled by the input of too many cooks. Huh. If this is democracy, bring back Mark.E.Smith.
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