Deleted Scenes
Lithium Burn
Release Date: Apr 15, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock
Record label: Park the Van
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Lithium Burn from Amazon
Album Review: Lithium Burn by Deleted Scenes
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
While they were gearing up to make Lithium Burn, Deleted Scenes experienced a creative crisis that led to adding new drummer Ricardo Lagomasino and sharing the songwriting duties between Dan Scheuerman, Dominic Campanaro, and Matt Dowling. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- this egalitarian approach, this is one of the band's most personal and cohesive-sounding albums. Their previous efforts, Birdseed Shirt and Young People's Church of the Air, often sounded like playlists of several different bands put on shuffle as they skipped from synth pop to Americana to punk.
Based on rating 6.5/10
Deleted Scenes have put out two solid, well-received records and hit a couple of benchmarks their fellow D.C. bands surely envy—their 2009 debut Birdseed Shirt was produced by J. Robbins and they toured with Dismemberment Plan. But judging from their third LP Lithium Burn, that kind of success doesn’t ensure any kind of sustainable security or stability.
Based on rating 3/5
Washington, DC-originating art rockers Deleted Scenes are onto their third album but just about broke up right before making it. Instead, they reinvented themselves, adding free jazz drummer Ricardo Lagomasino and getting most members to contribute songs. Guitarist/singer Daniel Scheuerman is still front and centre, his sensitive-soul lyrics and gentle vocals set against an array of styles.
Opinion: Excellent
I had to look up Wikipedia to find out anything much about Deleted Scenes, such as that this is their third album or that more than one of them were once members of another band called Fell Off The Face Of The Earth, which is the kind of band name that might suggest its inspirations derive from 1950s Sci Fi movies, or similar. Quite why I should want to mention this is mostly down to the fact that Deleted Scenes aren’t exactly the most ‘media friendly’ band I’ve ever reviewed, their website reveals little and were it not for Wikipedia, I would make the assumption that Lithium Burns is in fact their very first release. Actually, I probably wouldn’t do that as Lithium Burns is a far too well crafted and assuredly performed record for a debut album, and Deleted Scenes are the type of band that will hire a moderately well known actor (Dustin Diamond) to appear in a music video that itself makes some sort of oblique commentary on performance and openly satirises the entire LA drama experience.
'Lithium Burn'
is available now