Lit returns to the rock scene with something to prove in their self titled fourth album.
After releasing the platinum-selling album “A Place in the Sun” in 1999, Lit became one of the most popular modern rock bands heading into the new millennium. But when its 2001 follow up album “Atomic” hit the shelves, nobody seemed to care about them anymore.
Lit was later dropped by their RCA record label and many figured they would call it quits. But instead, they decided to stick together and release a new album independently.
It now appears that getting dropped from their label was the best thing that could have ever happened to this four piece band from Orange County, California.
This new album flat-out rocks and Lit should not be overlooked this time around. The CD starts out with the straight-ahead power rocking “Too Fast for a U-Turn,” and follows up with the albums first single “Looks Like They were Right.” This song will be stuck in your head for a while, with its extremely contagious chorus.
The next highlight on the album is the semi-ballad “Times Like This,” which has radio single written all over it. This should be the biggest hit on the record with the potential of being one of those overplayed songs on MTV (not necessarily a good thing if you’re a Lit fan).
Next up is “Throwaway” which continues the album’s hard rock/punk feel with some heavy guitar riffs, but the retro sound of “Forever Begins Right Now” changes the pace and adds an old school summer sound to the album.
The thick guitars return for the fast-paced energetic tune “Alright,” which could be best heard blasted at the highest possible volume. But don’t be fooled because the soft–acoustically-rich “Lullaby” slowly creeps up soon after. This is much different than any other song on the album and shows the softer side of lead singer Ajay Popoff. Having these two very different songs back to back shows a clever contrast and is a breath of fresh air unlike other bands who sound the same throughout an entire record.
Rounding out the CD is a cover of The Cure’s “Pictures of You,” and the crunchy yet catchy “Bulletproof.”
Anyway you put it, there might not be a better CD of the summer than this one. While it won’t get the kind of airplay that “A Place in the Sun” received or sell nearly as much, this could quite possibly be Lit’s best album yet.
