Heavy Looks seem like a jaded bunch when you listen to their lyrics, but don't let that dissuade you from checking it out. Before long you'll have a smile on your face and an urge to replay the album.
The quartet met in Stevens Point and formed last year after moving to Madison. Dirk Gunderson and Rosalind Greiert share vocal and guitar duties, TJ Thomsen plays bass, and Eric Wermedal mans the drums.
In the rock 'n' roll family tree, Heavy Looks would come from the house of Thrush Hermit or Nada Surf. Bleached could be a sister, and distant relatives might include the Goops, Tilt and the Promise Ring.
The lead riff on"Shake Me Up"sounds like classic post-punk downtuned to Black Sabbath levels, and the rest of the song may remind you of early Sleater-Kinney.
"Clarity"would be at home on a collection of Smoking Popes B-sides. Gunderson sings the verses, then Greiert joins him on the melancholy hook, "I need clarity for my clouded mind/I can barely see joy within my life." The track's upbeat guitar is the thing that will linger in your mind, though. In fact, you won't be able to get most of the album's songs out of your head.
