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 Caught in the Carousel "There will be music despite everything"
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The Lions Rampant
It's Fun To Do Bad Things
Deep Elm
Imagine sitting on a well-worn plastic lawn chair in your backyard, feet propped up on a keg of PBR. A dozen or so of your closest friends are there too, enjoying the 90 degree/100% humidity weather (shirtless of course), while an array of meats sizzle on your charcoal grill. What's blaring out of those speakers propped up in the window? The Lions Rampant.
This Cincinnati area band (with a rabid local following), have finally released their long awaited first album, It's Fun to Do Bad Things. Billed as "blues infused rock" but with a hint of punk (not surprisingly, they list both The Pixies and The Clash as influences), the band creates a sound that is unique but at the same time comfortably familiar.
Kicking off with the raucous "Give Me" the album is quite frankly, fun. No deeper meanings, no tortured metaphors, no hybrid sub-genre posing—just rock n roll. There's no way you can listen to this one and sit still, especially on the '60s throwback "Shake It Out" (you can almost see the mini-skirt clad dancers in their white boots). The band revisits another decade on "Kara" a clever tweak on Doo-Wop which, again, isn't trying to be more than it is.
Although there are themes of finding and then, inevitably, losing love on this album the band never ratchets down their enthusiasm (their amps definitely go all the way to 11). The Lions Rampant recalls a time when rock was subversive in its playfulness and they are more than happy to take you along for the (joy)ride.
—Pamela Obenchain
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