In today’s music industry it is possible to create great interesting music without having to be in front of everyone’s faces. You can stay in the background without having your face as the forefront as a rock star. We all want to be able to walk down the streets without getting swarmed, right? Our recent find, The Guilty Lenses are just fine making music without the personal fame many burgeoning rock stars strive for.
Hailing from Northern Virginia (or some other planet known as NOVA), the three-piece goes individually by the names Z, Y, and X. Together as The Guilty Lenses they create a fresh alternative rock sound with a unique flair. There is no big long bio to describe their upbringing or how they got to where they are today. They are here now and that is all that seems to matter. The energy they put out is quite intoxicating.
Last month The Guilty Lenses released their debut album Somewhat Romance, Somewhat Poetry to introduce themselves to the ears of the world. According to the band “the album is the result of Y experimenting with chemicals such as testosterone, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol. Happiness, friendship, love, strength, determination, sadness, insanity, anxiety, addiction, etc. everything came with it.”
The 14 track record is ready to take you on a journey. The mellow guitar strums of the opener “5 Minutes To Close” welcome us in with a warm embrace. The vocal delivery draws us into the story as the song builds around us. We get a similar start on “On The Loose” before the energy picks up and The Guilty Lenses take some inspiration from the happy pop songs of the ’60s. Smiles come to faces as this one plays out.
The tide changes and gets a little darker with “Dance Bar Blues.” The vocal delivery sets the vibe while some elegant guitar picking shows off a different element. As the song speeds up it all comes together into a modern alt-rock tone that takes the band to a higher level. On “Look Good” we get another happy go lucky track that has a sugary way of pulling the listener in for a swaying sing-along style. This is fun music.
The darker energy returns on “Street Lights” with an interesting guitar tone that dims the lights just right. The slowly delivered power chords gets heads bopping along to the beat. Yet again The Guilty Lenses suck us in right before trapping us inside thier unbridled energy. There is no escape from here, and that is just fine for us. The speed switch-ups demand attention and a focused listening experience.
By the time we reach the closer “Between The Paradise And the Sun” the journey has taken us to all sorts of emotions and a deeper connection with the band. We may not know their real names, but we are here for the Guilty Lenses.
Keep up with the band for yourself on FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM