Friday Full-Length: Lo-Pan, In Tensions
It was five years ago this week that Columbus, Ohio, heavy rockers Lo-Pan released their In Tensions EP (review here) through Aqualamb Records. It was the first collaboration between the band and the label, as Lo-Pan had reissued their 2007 sophomore full-length, Sasquanaut (review here), and their third album, 2011’s Salvador (review here), on Small Stone Records, with years of hard touring in between. In Tensions also marked the band’s first offering to feature vocalist Jeff Martin, bassist Scott Thompson and drummer Jesse Bartz without guitarist Brian Fristoe, who’d been in the band since their self-titled debut in 2006 and whose last release with them was 2014’s Colossus (review here), which found them moving beyond their mid-tempo fuzz beginnings on songs like “N.P.D.” and “Relo,” adopting a more straight-ahead, all-out, harder-edged approach that In Tensions would in part continue.
Their progression isn’t to be understated across those outings. Martin made his debut with the band on Sasquanaut and they toured extensively in the US across the years between 2007 and 2014, with their earned growth evident in their craft and performance across Salvador — one of the best heavy rock albums of the 2010s — and Colossus alike. More and more, they became the band they wanted to be, refused to be anything else, and if you didn’t like it, they were happy enough to steamroll your ass on the way to the next set of ears. Like others of the late-’00s/early-’10s Small Stone set — see also Wo Fat, Freedom Hawk, Gozu, and so on — Lo-Pan helped define American heavy rock for a new generation of listeners, and they did it resolutely on their own terms. In Tensions brought marked changes to their approach.
As I recall it was supposed to be an album, but its five songs and 22 minutes offer plenty of depth even as an EP, whether in the layered vocal harmonies from Martin, the thing-to-be-cherished grooves from Thompson and Bartz or the guitar work of Brujas del Sol‘s Adrian Lee Zambrano. The latter was announced as the band’s new guitarist in Nov. 2014 and would tour Europe with the band the next Spring — I was fortunate enough to catch their set at Roadburn 2015 in the Netherlands, which I still wish had been released as a live album and might’ve been had this lineup worked out — but was out of the band by the time In Tensions surfaced in Aqualamb‘s established art-book/DL and vinyl pressing modus. Thus, In Tensions was both ‘intensions’ and tense. Personality conflicts in Lo-Pan were nothing new. Even watching them on stage, they’ve always struck me as a band ready to put any and everyone in their place, including
each other. That’s not a dig on Zambrano, just noting that Lo-Pan might require a particularly thick skin.
But these songs. God damn. From the opener “Go West” careening through “Sink or Swim” and “Long Live the King” into the emotive urgency of “Alexis” and into the six-and-a-half-minute “Pathfinder,” which half a decade later stands up as some of the best work the band have ever done, there was nothing but potential here. Zambrano not only held his own in place of Fristoe, but brought nuance and attitude to his style of play on “Long Live the King” to match Bartz‘s rolling crash, captured with due breadth by Joe Viers‘ recording job and the mixing by Jonathan Nuñez of Torche, who did the first three songs while Ryan Haft (Psychic Mirrors, etc.) mixed the latter two. That shift too is somewhat discernible, if not immediately palpable, between “Long Live the King” and “Alexis,” and I don’t know why the mix was divided between Nuñez and Haft, but they’re different songs with different atmospheres as well. Just “Sink or Swim” sets its terms quickly and in thudding but still melodic fashion, “Alexis” begins with a quieter stretch of guitar and Martin‘s vocals far back in the mix before the bass and drums enter about 30 seconds into the song.
And “Pathfinder,” frankly, is a beast unto itself. I’ve long been a sucker for Lo-Pan‘s slowdowns — see also “Bird of Prey” from Salvador or “Eastern Seas” from Colossus — but if you were going to distill the potential of this lineup of Lo-Pan into a single song, it would be “Pathfinder,” beginning patient with hints of progressivism behind the verse and then sweeping into a build, the bass warm, the drums propulsive, the guitar precise but no less able to swing and the vocals heartfelt and melodically sure. A tempo shift at three minutes in leads to a break of toms and a fuzz-toned solo — nearly psychedelic but not so willing to relinquish control — before, at 4:55, the song quickly switches gears into its crescendo, gorgeously executed by the band as a whole, from Bartz‘s perfect, absolutely-nailed-it switch to half-time to Martin‘s call-and-response layering, Thompson‘s flourish in kind with Zambrano‘s guitar. When people talk about a band “clicking” or “all-cylinders” or some such, they’re talking about moments like the ending of “Pathfinder.”
Some groups — most, maybe — go an entire career without pulling off something like that. Lo-Pan have done it a few times over. With an almost siren affect in the last few measures, they cap “Pathfinder” and In Tensions with no loss of intensity, willfully setting heads spinning before they end sharp and sudden, like closing a show. Even as a short set, In Tensions stuns with its force and with the sheer ability of the band to make their songs what they want them to be. As noted, by the time it came out, Zambrano was already out of the band, and with his replacement, Chris Thompson (no relation), they would offer the full-length Subtle (review here) in 2019 and return to the road to support it, leaving one with the feeling that, after half a decade since parting ways with Fristoe, they had hit a point of new beginning, sounding refreshed but still the beneficiaries of the work put in developing their chemistry over their years together. I saw them support that record a few times. They killed in a way that wasn’t a surprise, but damn sure was satisfying.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
—
So, I put up an Author & Punisher review this morning and sent it to the publicist only to learn that there was an embargo on writing about the record until Feb. 1. Damnit. I knew I was early for a digital review ahead of a Feb. 11 release, but didn’t see there was a prescribed day it was cool to post. I offered to take it down and as of me writing right this second, I’m waiting to hear back on whether or not I should. I feel like an ass either way.
Small stakes, I know, right? Dude has a massive following and very, very few people (all appreciated) see anything I post, but still, I’m not out to break rules like that or anything. If someone trusts you to get a release early, they should be able to depend on you not to fuck up their promotional plans. Yeah, I think I just talked myself into taking it down. Hang on…
Yeah, it’s down. I’ll post when I’m supposed to post. I just got stoked on it, which if you saw the review in the approximately 45 minutes that it was live, you already know.
That’s life. It was the best thing I’d written since I did that in-studio a few weeks ago. Can’t post that yet either. February’s gonna kick some ass around here, I guess.
Next week, meanwhile, is the continuation of the Quarterly Review from December. Another 50 records, 10 per day. I might’ve done the two weeks right in a row last month, but the truth is there was too much coming out and I needed to get the year-end stuff done and, as you’re aware, there are only so many days on the calendar. Like the A&P thing, I sincerely doubt it matters to anyone other than me.
But, yeah.
I’ve got a mountain of email to answer and a Quarterly Review to continue setting up, so you’ll pardon me if I check out. Tomorrow I’ll be traveling to the great unknown land that is Southern New Jersey along with Kings Destroy’s Steve Murphy to record some guest vocals on the next Clamfight record, and I expect that will be a great refreshing brodown/love-fest, that will completely rejuvenate my spirit and wash away all my burnout with a spirit of gratitude and contentment.
I figure as long as I don’t hang too much on it in terms of expectations I’ll be fine. Really though, it’ll be fun and I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks, even if it means I need to work on the Quarterly Review today after I finish this post instead of spreading it over Saturday and Sunday as I otherwise might.
Great and safe weekend. Have fun, wear your mask — who are these people not wearing masks? why is that a thing? — and don’t forget to hydrate. I hope you find something you dig in the Quarterly Review.
FRM.
Tags: Aqualamb Records, Columbus, In Tensions, Lo-Pan, Lo-Pan In Tensions, Ohio
