Disillusioned and removed from romance just long enough to see the cracks in the picture frame, the lyrical protagonist in Litvar’s new single “No One Tastes Like You” has a lot of weight on their shoulders, but it’s not stopping their determined resolve to sort everything out in the verses that comprise this song. Litvar is a relatively new face to me as a critic, but in this performance, they manage to do what a lot of other bands well into their campaigns have failed at; serving both emotional themes and muscular melodicism at the same time (and asking nothing from us in return).
The three-piece format this band utilizes is perfect for the kind of punch they’re looking to issue in “No One Tastes Like You,” and I haven’t any doubts as to whether or not additional instrumentation would have cluttered the sound in this song. Rather than trying to play as an overwhelming sonic force, Litvar wants to balance the elements in their profile as to give us as full-bodied a look as possible with this release, which takes a lot more self-control than most of the rock syndicates I’ve been keeping up with have been able to offer in recent times.
I absolutely love the pushiness of the bottom-end in this track, and it’s largely because of the fat bassline that I think the rhythm is able to carry the guitar parts as well as it does. Rather than relying on the front end of this mix to do all of the heavy-lifting, Litvar is going old school with the structure of this piece, and it’s allowing for them to do a lot of adventurous things that – ironically enough – their predecessors weren’t able to. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of their approach, especially the next time they get into the songwriter’s room.
They’re still young, but I think it’s quite obvious that Litvar has a lot going for them in “No One Tastes Like You.” They’re raw and unrelenting in this performance, and with just a little more refinement in their pop compositional skills, they’re going to be hard to slow down in the mainstream market. Litvar’s got guitar gusto and a heady harmony for every searing lyric in this performance, and if they can keep the pace they’re presenting at here, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of them in the headlines.
