Play 90 second soundbite of 'Charlie Don't Surf' @ 'CD quality'
Lighthouses are currently an instrumental band and see themselves continuing along those lines for the foreseeable future. Their music is indeed minimalist, relying on riffs and fills to whet the appetite, Lighthouses are, I'm afraid to say, taking a risky road to fame. It aint an easy thing this music business and with no vocal front man to break up the electric onslaught Lighthouses are gonna find it difficult to break through. However, this demo does show that Lighthouses are trying to be different and their tenacity should be applauded rather than criticised. I believe that these tracks were essentially recorded 'live' in the studio which is a pretty cool but dangerous thing to do. Yes, time is money but you don't get owt for nowt!! If Lighthouses had invested more and spent time over-dubbing etc it might have resulted in a much more impressive but less real studio work. But, this is Lighthouses in the raw, the real band, the real sound, it's honest and it's reproducible!
These guys are still teenagers and their relative lack of experience shows a little in their compositional skills; sure they know how to rock and they seem to be more than just adequate musicians. But, currently their instrumental offerings seem to be a bit staccato and naive rather than actually flowing and minimalist. Hey, that's fine, it's early doors for Lighthouses and they've gotta start somewhere! At the moment though I feel that their 'songs' lack true originality; they tend to be pretty loose feeling and don't really fit into any particular idiom. Personally I'd like to see Lighthouses, if they're to stay as instrumentalists, trying to jazz the rock up a bit, try going a little more avant-garde and breaking down a few genre barriers. Without voices these guys need to be even more special in their structuring and delivery - at the moment it can all tend to sound a little uninspiring and ordinary. If Lighthouses want to be known as 'musicians' then they've really got to stretch themselves a lot more.
It sounds like I'm being a bit harsh on these guys but I'm just trying to be positive and offer the advice they've asked for, my opinions. At the end of the day it all comes back to being able to offer something really quite special and Lighthouses aren't quite there just yet!! These guys have got youth on their side and if they use their time wisely they might just find that little niche that they then can try to exploit. But, the music and musicianship needs to be a little more 'special' for it to work properly. At the mo' Lighthouses show potential but they also show inexperience. Lighthouses need to sharpen the whole sound and really push at the minimalist/alt envelope - it aint gonna be easy cuz the road their musically 'walking' is one that is full of pit-falls and problems. If Lighthouses continue to be instrumental, they have to experiment and push themselves and their instruments really hard to find that sound and style that instantly shouts, 'this is Lighthouses'!! Sometimes vocalists can be made to sound like additional instruments, Lighthouses need to reverse that and let their instruments 'sing' out up-front!
I'm sure Lighthouses will be a little disappointed with my words but I hope they take them in the spirit they're meant. Lighthouses obviously know their way around their instruments but the now need to know them inside-out and upside down, to discover the latent potential lying in them. Then they need to develop the Lighthouses sound and style that'll stand them out from the rest. Lighthouses have to ability to get this sorted, it aint no easy ride and there'll be heartbreak aplenty on their journey. I hope they stick to their guns and find the missing ingredients. Good luck Lighthouses - reach for the stars and be positive - you know you can do it!!
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