Louder, “self-titled” LP

cover - louderThe self-titled LP from Japan’s Louder would be a lot better if it could decide what it wanted to be. Half the cuts are big sugar-metal jams, like album opener “Idiot Mind.” Hearing them, one can only assume that the band’s name is both homage to and one-upmanship on the early ’80s Japanese band Loudness. Those kinds of songs are catchy, they’re fast, they’re fun — and, ultimately, transient.

Louder’s standard rock ‘n’ roll is good, but it’s not particularly noteworthy enough to stand above any of the other bands which have come before them. Stacked up against Guitar Wolf, Electric Eel Shock, or even Gito Gito Hustler, they just can’t compete. However, when you listen to something like “Prank” or “Dog Off,” with strange, skronky guitar lines and snottier vocal delivery, Louder becomes way more interesting, and something worth checking out.
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