Peer Validated

Pictured:  White Light Riot, conservatively dressed conservationalists, also conversationalists.  Say that five times fast, bucky.

White Light Riot is a Minneapolis band who use words like, “sychophant”.  They play melodic rock, which sometimes sounds a little too much like We Are Scientists.  That being said, they have some of the catchiest songs that I’ve heard in a long time.  While WLR hasn’t necessarily pushed the boundaries back in their latest album, “Atomism” they did exactly what they set out to do, which is put out a great pop-rock album peppered with literary references, and… well, words like, “sychophant.”  Tracks like “Transit State” find the boys of White Light Riot doing their best Maroon 5 impression.  A medium-tempo rocker, it has chunky guitars, string samples, and a drummer who loves to keep it in the pocket.  It says something that this is perhaps the bands 6th catchiest song (not a bad something, either.)  “Midway Souveiners”  is perhaps the first “power waltz” that I’ve ever heard.  What starts out as an almost carnival keyboard sounding intro, quickly gives way to a wall of guitar, which in turn gives way to singer, Mike Schwandt soaring above the rest of the track, which in turn gives way to me saying things like, ”It’s really quite exhilarating.”  So there you have it.

 The hit single, is of course, “Charlatan” which combines everything that White Light Riot does so well, namely, catchy vocals, driving guitars, and bombastic drumming.  The production on this cd is amazing, thanks to Tapes n’ Tapes phenom, Erik Appplewick.  This really is a good measuring stick, as anyone who is in to Tapes n’ Tapes, Vicious Vicious, etc. will like this cd a bloody ton.  Anyway, in the end the thing that makes White Light Riot so good, also could be the thing that leaves them unplayed on your itunes.  A little more variety next time would be nice, but then again, what do I know?  Party on, fellas.