A difficult pill for Lower Than Atlantis fans to swallow.

Album number four from Watford rockers Lower Than Atlantis has been shrouded in ideas of ambition and experimentation, pushing the quartet to higher places than they’d previously been. However, ideas are what they shall remain, as the self-titled album, ‘Lower Than Atlantis’, misses the mark on what this band are built on, rock and roll.

Whereas previous albums saw meaty and audacious tracks such as 2010’s ‘Far Q’ and 2011’s ‘Beech Like The Tree’, the 2014 offering is a lack-lustre attempt at creating a rock record embellished in electronics and clich├®s. It feels like their four weeks with ‘Here We Go’ on the Radio 1 A List has given them a mainstream raft which they are now just floating on, leaving their punchy raw roots behind. In fact, ‘Here We Go’ is the best song on the album, doing for the album what some stabilisers would for the first time bike rider; you’re glad they’re there so that it isn’t a complete disaster.

Where clich├®s and metaphors usually evoke heart-melting relation from a listener, Lower Than
Atlantis have managed to use them so frequently that they produce cringeworthy grimaces instead. ‘Criminal’ and ‘Live Slow, Die Old’ are shells of a more grown up sound and songs such as ‘Damn Nation’ and ‘Time’, which are supposed to feel big and anthemic, instead feel false. This album will however gain the band fans as it will launch them into the mainstream but consequently they’ll lose their punk rock credibility. It’s going to be a difficult pill for Lower Than Atlantis fans to swallow
because this album is sadly far removed from the bands previous three rock records.