RUST
CD Reviews - April 19 ,2013
Eric Petersen
Driven
RustZine.com

Here at RUST Magazine, we love us some Lost Patrol. Our friends at The Blueflowers turned us on to them (we love us some Blueflowers, too) and their new album - their fourth - gives us even more to love. This outlaw, sci-fi, dream-pop, psych-rock band defies categorization except that they have defined their own unique sound, and they have continued to make great, distinct music on "Driven".

Part late night double feature soundtrack, part overdose hallucination, listening to The Lost Patrol is like being in a dream you can't wake from... sooner or later you just have to give yourself up to the wicked rhythmic bass and supernatural vocals of Mollie Israel who sings like a bar-end vamp who will pull a switchblade on you in an instant, then smile and just put it away like nothing happened. You're scared, but you have to find out more about this woman in the worst way.

"Driven" sees the band exploring less of the sci-fi sounds of 2011's Rocket Surgery and more of the Outlaw space along with bands like The Blueflowers, The Great Tribulation, and Empty Orchestra. We've previously commented on these bands all being part of the new American Rustbelt sound, and it's inspiring to have seen new albums from The Lost Patrol, The End Times and The Blueflowers this year. It gives us hope that artistic excellence is falling like so many trees in the forest awaiting to be discovered and heard.

What's extra notable about TLP is that they're consistent, and consistently improving. This is not a hit and miss band, and the hits just keep getting harder. "Driven" is just that. There's a force of inescapable acceleration that pushes each song forward, giving them immense mass. This is a serious piece of work, and this crew does not mess around. Even when the tone is light, you can't help but feel that something ominous is just ahead.

As usual, the audio presence of the band is simply superb thanks to the production of Stephen Masucci. Along with Michael Williams on guitar, this three piece makes a sound that's not just big... it is heavy, it is dense... it has mass and inertia. Simply said, The Lost Patrol is a great band and "Driven" is a great album. I wish I had a term beyond "Essential" to give to it... but I don't. Essential is the maximum recommendation RUST can give.

Hmmmm... Obligatory? Yep. Obligatory. Alright, that's it, we've broken the mold here and have re-set our review scale to accommodate this album. It's official, The Lost Patrol's "Driven" is Obligatory.

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