Let’s Be Friends by The Lovemakers
LABEL: unsigned

Their first full-length release since major label debut Times of Romance in 2005, Let’s Be Friends showcases songs with straightforward themes of nostalgia and closure that represent where the duo is both creatively and personally.  While their history with Interscope and the now non-existent record label, Fuzz, may be heartbreaking, Scott Blonde and Lisa Light rekindle the flame of their undeniable artistic chemistry once again with their third official release.

The group opens with the dichotomous “Love is Dead,” where the Lovemakers introduce the integral combination of the keys and driving guitar melodies that compliment Light’s “ooohs” and “ahhhs.”  Contributing to the album’s light-hearted (sounding) start, “See What I Wanna See,” will undoubtedly pull the band’s dance-loving fans out of their seats, but the album is equally dark and ominous—“This Life is Over,” slows things down, painting a dreary picture of what things were and highlighting the push and pull effect of Blonde and Light’s lyrical back and forth.

Let’s Be Friends also does well in extracting the twosome’s musical inspirations; just when listeners think they’re being driven by a Duran Duran-influenced, ‘80s pop band in ballads like “Hold On to Your Heart,” Blonde and Light release the authority of punk or hard-core counterparts in tracks like “Everyone’s Fightin’ the Same Damn Fight,” “All Together,” and “Tears You Apart.”  One can only imagine what the duo does live to capture all of the sentiments and sounds that The Lovemakers put forth on Let’s Be Friends, but I have a feeling it’s nothing short of an emotionally-cultivating experience.


REVIEWED BY LIZ IMLER
LIZ'S 3 FAVORITE TRACKS: “Where Did You Go?” • “Wanna Go Back” • “This Life Is Over”
Read more from Liz on her blog, Music Soldiers


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