After talks about possibly not releasing full albums again, Lagwagon are back with their first full length album in 9 years, the longest break between albums they've ever done. According to singer Joey Cape, the desire to make another album came from touring around and playing their older albums, essentially causing the creative juices of the first albums to start flowing again.
So after 25 years of being a band and only retaining two of the original members (Joey Cape and guitarist Chris Flippin) what sort of material can this aging band produce? Maybe the acoustic material the Caper has mostly been focused on for the past few years has caused the band to go in a slower paced direction? Maybe the relentless touring Joey does each year has worn him down to wanting to slow jam? Maybe not.
The album begins with a minute long track featuring Mr. Cape and a single acoustic guitar, but as soon as the last note of the song hits the rest of the band joins in at full speed to bring back the all-to-familiar sound that Lagwagon has perfected all these years. Besides a 30 second intro to One More Song the album keeps a steady pace of hard riff-age and impressive drum fills. You wouldn't think that after all these years, they would surprise their audience by releasing their hardest album to date, but they have.
The production seems perfect for the style of songs contained on Hang, more polished than previous album Resolve, but less slick than Blaze. There's a heavy bass flow throughout the entire album and new bassist (but long-time friend of the band) Joe Raposo gets to shine, particular on Obsolete Absolute which features bass guitar intro with an ominous typewriter quietly typing in the background.
The subject matter of the songs on the album follows mostly a dark path, questioning the contemporary world through wizened eyes. This general perspective moves Joey Cape from focusing on the personal issues he has covered on previous records and instead center on the shape of globalized society. He occasionally drifts from the general to the personal on a couple tracks though. The song One More Day describes Cape's desire to hear more music from his friend, the recently deceased songwriter Tony Sly and the track Drag explains Cape's ongoing struggle with quiting smoking.
There's not much to not love on this new album, maybe a track like You Know Me doesn't stand out that much, but it's still a solid track on a solid album. Even the bonus songs (that come with pre-orders) Don't Laugh at Me and (No Use For a Name cover) Exit are strong enough contenders that they could've been included on the album. If there was anything I could really complain about it would be the artwork. I don't what it is about it, but I just think it could have been a lot better. It looks to be the only thing that no real time was spent on, almost a quick photoshop job to get a cover out. But hey, you can see it, what do you think?
Regardless, if you're excited to hear the Lag crew back in action than you won't be disappointed by this album as long you want fast and solid guitar/drum work accompanied by Joey's signature vocal style. Just hearing the anger in Cape's voice during the closing 30 seconds of the record is enough of a reason to pick this album up.
SONG TO CHECK OUT: MADE OF BROKEN PARTS / THE COG IN THE MACHINE / IN YOUR WAKE
RATING: 9/10
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