Album Review: Earlimart Mentor Tormentor [Shout Factory, August 2007]

Do you every wish you lived in L.A.? It’s okay to admit if you do, I grew up in New York and even I have days that I would trade jammed packed soaking wet November train rides to cruising the 405 in the perpetual spring/summer of the desert life.

If you ever do decide to give up on New York and go west then chances are you will end up with neighbors like Earlimart. Laid back, nice, and the kind of people you could see yourself sitting down for drinks and a barbeque with.

While listening to their new album Mentor Tormentor I remembered that their last album was dedicated to Elliott Smith. I think (whether they say or not) this one is too. The willowy vocals and quiet guitars certainly shake forth the ghost of the dead troubadour. What’s missing however is not the earnestness but rather the subversive brutality of Smith’s black lyrics mixed with his honey coated voice. When the Earlimart gang croon to you they mean what they say in a way that never leaves you wondering if they actually wish you would fuck off.

What’s nice about this record is that it shows progression. The instrumentation and the style of playing aren’t a huge difference from past efforts but the strength of the melodies is rock solid. They are more engaging and as a result the record has a great consistency from top to bottom. This is not the album that will change your life but it is another step in the right direction.

Never forget vigilant reader that the misery inflicted upon you through high rent, cold winters, hot summers, and the constant stream of barfing frat boy I-bankers pissing outside your apartment every weekend keeps you aware that life takes endurance to get by and makes you strive to achieve great things, and if you ever feel like hanging out in Silver Lake, just pop on Earlimart and feel the sunshine.