Lionizer – From Two To Three, The ‘Be Alone’ EP.
Lionizer – Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
In 2015, Perth based Lionizer added a new member and new instrument into their upbeat and emotionally open 90’s Punk/Indie/Pop-Punk cross over and soon began work on the now recently released Be Alone EP.
Punk music has and likely always will be an excellent medium for the emotionally expressive and Lionizers socio-political edge explores this via personal struggle and the ever prominent discussion of sexuality and gender dysphoria.
The band does this without falling under the criticism of being far too “preachy”, which is a common mistake made by many Punk musicians. Thankfully, Lionizers deep and emotional yet up-beat sound holds the perfect balance.
\\Be Alone//
If I’m honest, I thought I was listening to Latterman or RVIVR when I clicked play on this EP. ‘Bleeding Out / Shutting Down’ is a solid example of the “bleak-lyrics-up-beat-music” formula championed by some of my favourite bands and best on contemporary Punk.
Lyrically, it’s stupidly quotable and the soft almost English accent makes for a great listen. If I could, I’d write out the entire song – ‘It takes more than a ceiling and four walls for me to feel at home, just like it takes more than coexisting for me to not feel alone‘ – You know what the song is about, but at the same time, lyrics such as that have been left to simply resonate on your level as much as they have that of the three-piece.
‘Bleach’ is built on a similar foundation and is a mini-anthem of defiance, with it’s raised fist and smiling face looking that thing called life right in the eye.
‘Homeless’ keeps the pace in check, bringing it down for welcome soliloquy of sorts, or does it? The pace is amped up again presently for a fast, gritty yet melodic Pop-Punk track boasting a highpoint on the release.
Compared to the bands earlier work, the 90’s Punk/Pop-Punk sound is far more prominent, forsaking the former Indie Rock stylistic enough that it’s more of a influence rather than a core element of the Lionizer’s sound.
‘Every Action, Every Consequence’ was a surprise. It’s darker, heavier and more specific in it’s lyrical content. It tackles gender dysphoria, identity and the external and internal expectations of mind and body in it’s hard hitting melodic Punk-Rock.
I may have written that the Indie elements of the Lionizer’s sound were now lacking, but for ‘Bridges Burned’, the band blends the Pop-Punk sensibilities and the Indie quirks with the fuzzy bass driven rhythms of the latest addition to the family.
Closer, ‘Stone’, was released as single back in November of 2015 and again leans closer to the band’s older sound, but again with the welcome bass-fuzz of Wheels McKenzie lending a hand in a track that could have been a b-side on The Distillers‘ Coral Fang, in it’s very personal tongue-in-cheek aggression.
Find all things Lionizer below:
- Head to Facebook and Twitter for updates.
- For the all the bands releases so far and merch, bandcamp is your destination.
- For videos, hit up the band’s Youtube Channel.
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