专辑简介

by Andy Kellman

Hardcore punk met heartland rock for All Night Lotus Party, continuing the party atmosphere of The Bright Orange Years and adding more noise and overall rambunctious tone. The slight change could be attributed to the increased participation of Jon Williams and Jeff Weigand in the songwriting. Half of the record features full involvement of the trio; Peter Prescott is the lone writer on only four songs. The noisier abandon is immediately apparent from Jon Williams' nasty abrasion at the beginning of "White Elephant," which undeniably sounds much like some of Roger Miller's more memorable antics in Mission of Burma. And with "White Elephant," the Suns once again stick their most hummable and hook-filled song on their record at the beginning, as if to gain immediate attention. Such a tactic isn't necessary; aside from the near-ballad "Room With a View," the first side whips by at breakneck speed, save for the schizo tempo shifts in "Blown Stack." The second side slows down the proceedings, but not drastically. Prescott's incidental whooping and bellowing hits a zenith with Lotus. If there was justice on the planet, his yelps would be just as recognizable by the average music fan as a John Bonham kick-drum thump. And last but not least importantly, Seger phobes shouldn't be scared off the record by the first sentence above; any stylistic similarity is purely instrumental and not lyrical.