Labels: self released
Review by: Toby
I was reading a thread on a forum recently where members were discussing whether a band had to be truly original to make truly good music; is it possible to be an artiste when you’re merely walking a well-trodden musical path so to speak? Well this five track, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it debut from Coventry’s Love Hurts answers this question pretty well “” “Yes’ to put it bluntly. No, they are not creating any new genre or really putting a spin on an existing one but oh Christ they don’t half make garage rock sound bloody good. This is garage rock at it’s lovely, boppy, dance along and pretend you’re living at the Chelsea Hotel in the 70’s, eating pizza for breakfast and watching The Ramones, Television and The Stooges in the evening kind of garage rock. I for one would like to hear more of Love Hurts and hope more bands take this lead “” we need more music we can dance to at gigs – and Love Hurts can make you dance and think as they actually seem to have something to sing about with their lyrics (“No Means No’ especially).
So what do they actually sound like then? Well imagine Scared of Chaka with Keith Moon on drums and Joey Ramone or Ian Curtis on vocals with the occasional touch of NY City (dare I say some of “Hollywood Pain’ actually reminds me of The Strokes?). That’s what it sounds like in my head anyway. I hope to see them round my way soon and I’d recommend picking up their cassette as well as downloading it as this really is music to be heard in as gritty and lo-fi a format as possible.