REVIEW: Lovely Wife - "Problem Rock" [EP]

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 06/08/2017

Label: Cruel Nature Records

Taken in together, you have a smoothed out jam band-esque stoner rock experience, and it is a good one.

"Problem Rock" CS//DD track listing

1. Export To Disk

2. Filth

3. Ting

The Review:

Beguiling, as it is perplexing, Lovely Wife drop a new three-song EP for your listening pleasure. And it is a really nice one, but it is not without a few questions.

This is the follow up to the group's three-song debut EP, "Lou Reed is Dead." That package was mostly a post-rock affair that clocked in at just under half an hour. It flew under the radar for many, but came across as promising.

The new release features virtually a complete change in band members and another trio of psychedelic infused heavy rock. It feels a bit unpolished and even rough at points, though it is likely a production touch. Taken in together, you have a smoothed out jam band-esque stoner rock experience, and it is a good one.

Lovely Wife's challenge is finding that right mix of personnel. It is a difficulty faced by a ton of new groups: you think you have the right mix of people until it isn't, and even when you do, musical chemistry takes time.

Although the lineup is about wholly different from its debut, even "Problem Rock" has rotating members throughout the record. Joe Garrick is the only consistent player here. The sprawling, 13-minute centerpiece "Export to Disk" features Garrick with drummer Rob Woodcock (who returns from his appearance on the title track of "Lou Reed is Dead") and guitarist Jon O'Neill. On the other two tracks, the lineups flip completely, with Garrick joining vocalist James Watts and drummer Skylar Gill.

With Garrick presumably the leader of the band, you have a talented bassist. "Problem Rock" makes his skill evident. Still, you might be inclined to wonder how much Lovely Wifewill get even better as it matures, nails its core membership and grows into tighter material.

"Problem Rock”is available here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp