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Lamont Skylark: Love Poems and Fight Songs
[Broken Home]

Lamont Skylarks debut album Love Poems and Fight Songs is not as unique as their press material claims.  Not unless honky-tonk folk-rock has become unique which I am pretty sure it hasnt.  This album has several songs that sound as if they could do with hollering and countrified violin playing and I dont mean that in a good way.

The songs on this record were all written by Lincoln Morris, the bands lead vocalist and jack-of-all-trades, including playing the mandolin.  Morris is backed by Kenny Ells and Kevin Rhodes, on bass and drums respectively.  While the lyrics are fine, sometimes it isnt so bad to let someone else sing the songs, even if you are the one who wrote them.  Morris voice seems ill-suited to the kind of music these boys are playing.  There is one track, Down from the Sky in which his voice is aptly matched.  It is a slow, thoughtful song, and it leaves behind the excessive country cheese that is so prevalent throughout the beginning of the album.  When I say country cheese, I refer to anything that is overdone, such as the honky-tonk sound and the bluegrass feel that just doesnt seem to fit.

Lamont Skylark has garnered rave reviews from their local scene in the south; mostly it seems from admiring musicians and fellow songwriters.  However, I think that Lincoln Morris talents, as a songwriter and engineer, are what will carry him forward into his musical future.

This album can be purchased atCD Baby

Lamont Skylark Official Website

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