REVIEW // Automata by Low Voltage Rangers

Low Voltage Rangers have returned this past month with a brand new full-length, called Automata. The 10 track long LP is the band's second full-length and shows the group continuing to explore different musical techniques. A major exploration in Automata is that of fermatas and other ways of holding notes. Look no further than the very first song and you'll hear this. For the majority of the album frontman Jeremy Toltzman executes this wonderfully and adds a lot of power and punch to the tracks, but there is maybe 1 or 2 tracks where this kind of singing becomes slightly distracting to the rest of the music. So what's the verdict? Is this album worth your time and money? Let's dive in and find out.

The Good
Automata has a wealth of really great tracks in it. In fact, I would say the second half of the LP is really where the album shines. Tracks like "Around the Greenbox", "Something Beautiful", and the absolutely outstanding closer "How to Say Goodbye" are among my favorites. Want an example of when everything falls together perfectly? Listen to "Something Beautiful" and tell me it's not a beautiful song.

The Bad
Some tracks in this new LP can be forgettable, most notably the opener, "Out of Mind". Also, just like I mentioned at the top of this article, the singing has a potential to be hit or miss in Automata. I will say that at least it doesn't miss too often, but it does happen from time to time in this album. "Runaway" is a perfect example of this. This track starts out sounding pretty cool with the almost western sounding guitar in the opening, but it's really just the singing in this song that brings it down.

Conclusion
So what's the conclusion? Is it worth your time and money? The short answer is yes. Automata suffers from a couple short-comings like every album does, but this is nothing too horrible to actually ruin the enjoyment of the album as a whole. Also insanely awesome tracks like "Stealing an Angel", "Our Parade", and the wealth of outstanding tracks mentioned above in the "Good" section make it easy to ignore the rocky moments in Low Voltage Rangers sophomore album. Automata is being sold for a mere $8 over at their website: www.lowvoltagerangers.com and at their bandcamp page. If this sounds like an album you'd enjoy you should also like their Facebook page!

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Low Voltage Rangers

So I totes-magotes missed my dentist appointment today, so........that was a thing that happened. Also, Low Voltage Rangers released their first album. Well, that didn't happened today, but I felt I'd still talk about it.

It's pretty good. Low Voltage Rangers is a band from Milwuakee with a kind of alt-rock, electro-pop sound to them, which is really new. Not the whole "We're a band from Milwuakee" part, but the mixing of alt-rock and electro-pop thing. And it sounds really good! Songs like "Columns" and "The Mourning Grew Flowers" I think are really good examples of this. In fact, I was reminded of Blink-182 when I first listened to "Columns".

Here are just a couple great songs from Phantom Forces. If you like these songs definitely go check out the full album at their bandcamp page! Not all of us have $7 though, so at least go and like their facebook page. See you guys tomorrow!

Columns by Low Voltage Rangers

Secrets by Low Voltage Rangers

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