Review by Stewart Mason
From the real-life Beavis and Butthead-like image singer/songwriter L.P. strikes in her anti-glamour front cover shot, juxtaposed with a convenience store and a stretch of mostly identical houses behind her, to the similarly plainspoken lyrics and her appealingly rough-edged vocal style (which alternates between a gruff talk-singing lower register and a Kate Bush-like high-register peal that suggests that her press release's claim of being an opera singer's daughter isn't a fib), Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol is something of a concept album. Don't let that stop you, however, because even more than that, it's a collection of nine powerfully sung and lyrically compelling songs that owe an unexpected but seemingly genuine debt to the best of late-'70s/early-'80s FM rock: elements of Pat Benatar, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Billy Squier, the Motels, and even a little Def Leppard course through radio-ready tunes like the ironically anthemic 'Wasted' and the completely brilliant 'The Dark Side,' not to mention the dramatic power ballad title track. Refreshingly non-ironic and bracingly honest, Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol is a huge leap from 2001's less compelling Heart-Shaped Scar.
Check out Suburban Sprawl and Alcohol by LP on Amazon Music. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com. LP discography and songs: Music profile for LP, born 18 March 1981. Genres: Singer/Songwriter, Pop Rock, Indie Pop. Albums include Gentleman's Blues, Lost on You, and Lost on You. Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol LP. Released 2004. Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol Tracklist. Darkside Lyrics. All I Have Lyrics. Get Over Yourself Lyrics. Suburban Sprawl.
| Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04:12 | |
| 2 | 02:51 | |
| 3 | 04:06 | |
| 4 | 04:00 | |
| 5 | 05:03 | |
| 6 | 03:23 | |
| 7 | 04:11 | |
| 8 | 04:55 | |
| 9 | 03:19 | |
| 10 | 04:25 | |
| 11 | 05:58 |
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2004 CD release of Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol on Discogs.
| Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 29, 2004 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Lightswitch Records | |||
| Producer | Alan Weatherhead | |||
| LP chronology | ||||
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Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol is an album released in 2004 by the singer LP. The first track, 'Wasted', was used as the opening theme for the second and third season of The N's show South of Nowhere.
Track listing[edit]
- Wasted (4:13)
- The Darkside (2:52)
- All I Have (4:07)
- Get Over Yourself (4:01)
- Suburban Sprawl & Alcohol (5:04)
- Little Death (3:24)
- Change of Scenery (4:12)
- Nowhere (4:56)
- Never Was (3:20)
- Heartless (4:26)
- Cadillac Life (3:27)