While their mission statement is to focus on that chaotic period of uncertainty in youth, Lost At Sea’s music is anything but directionless. Formerly known as Corusco, LAS are themselves at that point in their lives and, spurred on by “trying to find hope and meaning when lost”, what better time to gear up for a post-hardcore expansion than now? ‘Motion Sickness’, their debut record, attempts to fulfil this philosophy, and while pacing and production hold it back from being truly stellar, the Dallas trio’s thesis on transience, liminality and fragility is an admirable first go.
At its best, ‘Motion Sickness’ seems to perfectly scratch that itch for classic emo riffs and vocal lines without collapsing nostalgia into routine territory, not an easy prospect for a debut album, but one LAS seems to achieve with ease. It’s a difficult line to balance but tracks like ‘Movements’, with its buttery-smooth melodic guitar line, and the opener ‘On My Own’, with its staccato-laced chorus, are tinged with emo elements akin to bands like Ash, Thrice and Sugarcult. Intentional or not, Lost At Sea have warped that old school style to suit their more post-hardcore sound, and the results deliver a rather unique atmosphere to the ten tracks within. There’s a supreme feeling of hunger here, a desire by the band to break out of this purgatory and find more to the world. The often biting sharpness of the instrumentation carries this a long way, and its ability to set the tone and help shape the world of the album makes it one of the most enjoyable aspects of the debutante record.
With that said, LAS do lose their footing in places. Branching out into more varied styles in places, ‘New Eyes’ and ‘Skeleton Key’ push the band’s boundaries beyond that classic sound. The former leans more into traditional hardcore roots with the latter going for an acoustic album break, but they’re far cries from what the band demonstrate elsewhere on the record, and as a result the pacing of the album’s first half is somewhat all over the place. This fuzzy production does take the wind out of some of the coarser vocals and dulls the basslines in many of the best songs from ‘Motion Sickness’, and it’s a shame when tracks like ‘The Collider’ inadvertently temper Aaron Gonzalez’s talent for rough-but-clean vocals with a less than stellar mix. Most severely, it undercuts that indelible atmosphere of the record, a cardinal sin for an album that comes off as so sure of itself and its style.
Growing pains aside, it’s clear Lost At Sea are set and confident in their sound and, despite the hiccups, they slot into a niche in the scene that bigger and longer-tenured groups have failed to fill. It’s a solid, if flawed, showing for a blooming band, one that shows a lot of promise for future records and an evolved sound that’s one to watch should they stick to their guns.
FIACHRA JOHNSTON