Lydia – Assailants
Record Label: Self-Released
Release Date: July 20, 2010
There’s a lot of things I’d like to say about Lydia, but frankly I don’t think it’s any of your business. And that’s pretty much the point. Few bands create such personal connections within the framework of verse-chorus-bridge tunes. Luckily on Assailants, Leighton Antelman’s catharsis is strong enough for two. Here on the band’s final output, there is lots of reflection; a band doesn’t fall apart for no reason. But the logic within all this emotion is that we are included. The audience’s POV still reigns supreme. And I know that’s what I always say, but I always say it because I feel it’s the most important thing: we must be included. Lydia have written their final act, and we’re all the star.
How to write a eulogy. I have no idea. Does the demise even matter, or is it the triumphs that deserve special attention? But what I do know is that Assailants is truly wonderful. Its rank in the Lydia canon is meaningless, partly out of respect for the recently departed, and partly because I flat out refuse. Heck, I spent lots of time pondering whether this should even be a “review,” or if it could just be a nice forum to share thoughts about this powerful band. (If you would like to discuss Lydia’s meaning to you, I more than encourage you to do so in the replies.) But I suppose, in terms of nuts and bolts, there is not an ounce of disappointment in Assailants. Despite arriving 2 years after Illuminate, this record essentially continues the discourse with lamenting, wispy and downright emotional indie pop-rock. Antelman’s lyrics are still superb and superbly delivered in his characteristic high-pitched moan. Assailants is a record about coming to terms, yet its somber view of the future adds a timeless quality. When a band sees the writing on the wall, then writes that into a record, only powerful things can come.
Seven songs to say goodbye. “Empty Out Your Stomach” uses electronic tinkering not as a crutch, but as a foil to achingly human lines like, “You empty out your stomach / So everyone can see that you are as black as the basement / And just as wicked as me.” It’s unnerving for lines like that to appear on a band’s last monument; one more reminder that life ain’t unicorns and rainbows. “A Place Near The City” also creates a complex atmosphere with glittering beeps. And while I’m not saying that this is Assailants’ best song (because who am I?), I am saying that it has the album’s best, most telling line (at least in terms of dying bands): “Cause whatever happened is supposed to / Whatever happened is nothing I could do.” It’s not our job to speculate on the end of Lydia, but I think we can all feel a teensy bit better knowing that there is some closure. Well, at least closure in a sense that moving forward is possible. Because if there’s anything we can hope for, it’s that Antelman and sole remaining member Craig Taylor become creators again real soon.
Rating: Very Positive, I suppose
Recommended If You Like: Copeland, Appleseed Cast, Straylight Run
Never listened to this band. I guess I should give it a shot at some point in time.
yes. start with the beginning and work your way forward.
also i was really worried when this record was released. i almost didnt want to listen to it out of fear that it would be some half assed record and leave a mark the greatness that this band was for me. glad i listened to it though. this record does not disappoint, except for maybe the fact that it is only about 20 min. oh well.
Illuminate helped me greatly in a dark place that I was in last year. That album resonated in ways that very, very few albums have, and probably ever will.
The lyrics fit, the music fit, this band has so much more talent than I feel they even realize.
Lydia may be dead and gone after this tour, but I hope Leighton creates something just as poignant and powerful.
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