lovely bones - still got the bruise

Lovely Bones

Still got the bruise
self-released; 2014

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Lovely Bones initially started jamming together in early 2011. Back then the band consisted of only Julien and Faye. It wasn't until a couple of months later that they started auditioning people to fill out the rest of roster. After about a year they finally landed the right members Quelen (violin, background vocals), Laurent (bass) and Benjamin (drums).They recorded Still got the bruise but only released it recently. There are five songs on this album that fuse upbeat genres like funk, reggae and soul. They play the type of songs that will have hippies who are drunk at your local tavern dancing in no time. The guitars are usually manipulated by a Wah pedal and the bass plays enough notes that it should make fans of jam bands happy. The music is fun, easy to listen but also something that sounds familiar. What is nice though is that it feels fine against the strong almost Joplin-like female lead vocal.  She has a great voice as well as a delivery that made the songs infinitely more appealing. They are soulful, full of emotion and is something no computer in the world can replicate. Production-wise everything sounded top notch.  I could hear everything clearly from the guitars to the bass. The low-end was defined and everything from top to bottom sounded professional.

The first song “Paper meets ink” initially combines rim shots, clean guitar chords and fairly subdued bass. It eventually gains some momentum and starts to sound more funky. The centerpiece of the song is the vocals as they shine over the instrumental parts. That being said I did thoroughly enjoy the brief breakdown they had with handclaps. “Patience” (no, not the Guns N’ Roses song) has a very distinct reggae vibe. I have to say the somewhat generic   reggae music sounded fine when it was put against the lead vocal. What's unique about this song is the chorus doesn't have much of a reggae vibe at all. Instead it explodes with a spacey type chorus that introduces strings if not synths that sound like strings. My personal favorite on the album was “Do me proud” which I felt was the most grounded. It wasn't all over the place and had some exceptional guitar and other strings that sounded original as well as exciting. I have the same sentiment towards closer  “Still got the bruise” even though this song had a bit more reggae-inspired guitar chords.

Still got the bruise is an album where the music is solid and the vocals are good. The songs often feel like something you would hear in a bar by an above average band. Although the album sometimes lacks originality there are some very moments of the EP that is a good introduction. They are in the early stages of their career and still have a lot of time to refine their sound.

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