It took the second run-through on the turntable to notice it, but Signals Midwest frontman Maxwell Stern sounds a lot like Bomb the Music Industry’s Jeff Rosenstock. If I remember correctly, I really liked their last album, but this one kind of refuses to stick in my mind.
The guitar solo on “In the Pauses” grabs your attention first and foremost, if you’re not a BTMI fan. It’s one of the few moments Light On the Lake‘s first side that doesn’t work in the loud-quiet-loud dynamic that’s become almost de rigeur for punk bands these days — quiet spoken parts, then big anthemic choruses.
It’s great for singing along and fist-pumping, but the fact that Signals Midwest actually do more guitar-wise than just strumming or rocking power chords gets lost in these songs that are, honestly, more like pieces from a Broadway musical than rock ‘n’ roll.
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