Living Things

'Habeas Corpus'

St. Louis punks offer short respite from machine-raging.

Spin Rating6 of 10

In 2005, Living Things' debut album, Ahead of the Lions, felt like a cathartic call to arms for a war-weary country that had sold its soul. Now America's problems are even more dire, but its mood has changed. As such, the strength of this follow-up is not the defiant antiestablishment fist-pumping (though there's plenty), but the tunes. "Let It Rain," a warm, soaring anthem brimming with bittersweet nostalgia, and "Oxygen," which rides a dark, throbbing beat and big, gushing chorus into Depeche Mode–ville, are a nice antidote to the relentless, righteous sloganeering and glittery, staccato riffs.

Listen: Living Things, "Let It Rain" (DOWNLOAD MP3)

By David Peisner

1 Van Halen 'A Different Kind of Truth'
2 Lana Del Rey 'Born to Die'
3 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
4 Himanshu 'Nehru Jackets'
5 Kathleen Edwards 'Voyageur'
6 Imperial Teen 'Feel the Sound'
7 Leonard Cohen 'Old Ideas'
8 Skrillex 'Bangarang'
9 Escort 'Escort'
10 First Aid Kit 'The Lion's Roar'

1 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
2 Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory'
3 Kathleen Edwards 'Voyageur'
4 The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'
5 The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'
6 Leonard Cohen 'Old Ideas'
7 Escort 'Escort'
8 Escort 'Escort'
9 Escort 'Escort'
10 Himanshu 'Nehru Jackets'

Living Things

'Habeas Corpus'

The Mark Lanegan Band 'Blues Funeral'

Of Montreal 'Paralytic Stalks'

Van Halen 'A Different Kind of Truth'

BUY: