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So what's in a name? Quite a lot really. This fourth long-player by Italian trio Lo-Fi Sucks! is a thing of sparky imagination and beguiling tension, far removed from that less than appealing band moniker. Reminiscent at times of Deus, 90 Day Men and a playful Sonic Youth (including a tribute to their drummer on 'He Played Steve Shelley's Kit'), L-FS! revel in a rumbling, shuffling sound that is delightfully difficult to pin-down. Sometimes, it's near impossible to pin-down in fact.



It's a mainly mid-tempo brew of some intoxication, featuring occasional minor guitar eruptions that only really go garage-rock on 'Drop-Outs Bus' and overtly, awkwardly avant-garde on 'Me And Nick Drake'. Slightly jazzy in feel, L-FS! blend guitars, strings, keyboards and occasional tiny electronic loops, with vocals slurred in a style along the lines of Luke Haines. Most affecting when they go soft, slow and remorseful on album closer 'No Place Like Home', Lo-Fi Sucks! here help to give Italian alternative rock a good name. Now, if only they'd more carefully considered their own...

Ian Fletcher
January-February 2003

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