Chicago's Loyal Divide has shared bills with Crystal Castles and Deadmau5, but its sound is far more rock n' roll than all the electro and dubstep they've played with would suggest.
Sure, those elements are there in the quartet's sound, and they certainly won't disappoint anyone looking to dance their asses off. The pulsing basslines, the electronic textures, the loops and samples - they're all present in abundance. But there's something more rockin' about Loyal Divide than you're likely to find in any of their associated acts. The new LP "Bodice Ripper" brings in music from all over that spectrum. The opening one-two punch of "Young Blades" and "Vision Vision" drops trancelike bass grooves alongside glitchy electro strains and ghostly vocals reminiscent of Factory Floor's Nik Void.
Also like Factory Floor, the band's sound is served brilliantly by the presence of live drums. Songs like "DDF" and "New Years" wouldn't be nearly as effective with mere drum machines. In the sea of samples, distorted guitars, loops, and phased vocals, the intensity of the drumkit rises to the top of the mix and only accentuates the groove.
And groove they do. "Bodice Ripper" is designed to make sweaty bodies move in lockstep, and that's exactly what it does. The rare moments that don't work are simply casualties in a war on stillness. This is a band built for the live stage, and isn't that really how a band like this should be built?
GRADE: B+
Post by Brad Sanders
