Leaves of Lothlorien's Mallorn

Leaves of Lothlórien, however, is not the mystical, brooding, dungeons-and-dragons metal of Uriah Heap or Celtic Frost. Rather, as one peruses the jacket and listens to the opening songs, one imagines a circus mix of Guy Picciotto and the Minutemen, a dance of the punken elves in the forest. Interestingly, bandmates Al, Matt, Jo Jo, and Josh avoid the sturm und drang distortion of many post-punk emo stylists in favor of a poplectic jubilee of clean chords and brotherly choruses. Mallorn breaks the weight of the aimless life of suburbia by calling out, "Like grass growing over streets, like green stretching out through concrete, walk with me, remember me now, remember breaking through." Endless asphalt and concrete give way to a spirit of community and imagination. Punk spirit and electricity transform dried, brittle branches into a bower of pop bliss.

The first song, "Everybody," invites its listeners to "climb up that hill...find that tree...carve your name...stand back and rejoice." The following songs go on to celebrate tree forts, kissing in the woods, and long drives through northeastern suburban forests.

The music suggests wild, uptempo, Velvet Underground-style chord-strumming colliding with ferris-wheel ditties. Like Unrest, Modest Mouse, and Archers of Loaf, many of the songs commingle bursts of frenzy with sparser, slowed-down interludes. The nice thing is that even in the shimmery slow parts, the bass and drums drive up ahead, keeping t hings popped up and danceable. Mallorn also demands comparison to The Yardbirds in its gently interlocking, clean guitar-stringed intros and outros. These leaves keep the seasons turning within single songs and with a frenetic joy often overlooked by today's shoegazers. In general, the recording quality shares the same level-down vocals, dry drums, and smooth guitars that many of its garage- or basement-made emo forebears display. Happily, this effect encourages one to go out with friends and see the band rather than sit alone in her room with a compact disc.

Overall, it's a gem of a recording with a great jacket that will make you believe that punk's not dead--just growing more and more varied types of flowers through the cracks in the pavement. (Garbage Czar)

--Carl Ehrhardt

Back to A&E...