Lawnmower’s distinct sound harkens back to a time when modern rock, alternative music and ’emo’ were known primarily as college rock. Undeniably early ’90s, this five song EP reminds you of all the greats from a time when music like this was new, refreshing, and untapped. You’ll hear traces of legends like Husker Du, Weezer, Sebadoh, Pavement, and The Pixies here, but it unravels in an exciting, unpredictable fashion and the band does it as well as the pioneers of the genre.
“Team Spirit” leads it off and it sounds like Lawnmower graduated from the Lou Barlow school of lo-fi with honors. A fuzzy rocker, you’d think Matt Pinfield spun this one on 120 Minutes in 1993 after a Dinosaur Jr video. This goes into “Beware Heather Sinclair,” which starts out similar to a very famous Nirvana song that’s title is very close to the first song here. The song shifts into quieter lulls before sliding into early Weezer territory- you know, the good stuff. The middle tracks, “Spinner’s Got A Mohawk” and “Party Favors,” move more toward garage rock territory with pleasant guitar riffs with Husker Du-ish dynamics working to their advantage. The former even speeds up to pop-punk tempo and for a moment sounds very Ramones influenced. The EP ends with “Adams” which is the most varied tune present. It’s a hazy and droning closer with a post-grunge feel. The soft singing is complemented with obscure soundbites and I think I even heard a Billy Idol reference in there.
Definitely lo-fi, heavy on the distortion and with a good helping of reverb, the vivid lyrical content matches the strong musicianship well here. The sound quality is far from polished but certainly not intolerable by any means, and it suits the raw, gritty tunes perfectly. Though their band name may be a bit plain, the music here is far from ordinary and most certainly worth a listen for the indie/alt/emo/college rock fan.
