On Fire in the Rose Garden, Montreal's Night Lunch make their weird little home beneath layers of post-disco punk haze, R&B, obscure sugar pop, and new wavy crooner ballads. It's a record for yearning, for the naive and misspent youth, for a time when love twisted your heart into a worn-out screw.
Fire in the Rose Garden feels like a record destined to be found in a dusty old attic years from now, when you're overtaken by the urge to reminisce on the glory days, to relive those drive-in makeout sessions in the dead of night. It's an eerily nostalgic record built on the mystifying sounds one can make with a guitar, bass, drums, voice, and at times, subtle synthesizer and keys.
Night Lunch's sophomore album may not sound much like music released in 2023, but it doesn't point to a specific time period either. At times — like opener "My Love Is a Rebel" — it's the best of mid-'80s Todd Rundgren, while the tenacity of Gang of Four rings through on the post-punk barn burner "Flames of Love." We even get a darkened spaghetti western ode with "Hangman," ripe with the tremolo guitar tone of surf rockers the Shadows, but sung in the dusky baritone of Nick Cave.
There are moments when the momentum lags — "Roses in the Sun" can't overcome its repetitive, straightforward instrumentation, but the vocals carry it forward into a still-enjoyable slice of throwback pop. Another song that feels a bit off in the mixing and song order (but perhaps purposefully so) is "God Bless the One I Love," with its cutesy faux-religious lyrics — but damn, you can't ignore that falsetto.
More on that singing, because it's where Fire in the Rose Garden truly shines. Frontman Lukie Lovechild (yup) is a vocal chameleon with a mean, mean higher register. We're talking Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' "Sherry" quality here. Yet Lovechild never goes over the top, sometimes switching to a very low croon and popping in a high-pitched falsetto for a surrealistic effect on a song like "Strange Behavior." He's also sometimes supported by backing vocals from keyboard player Wesley MacNeil or bassist Marlee Macmillan, the latter taking on lead vocal duties alongside Lovechild on a handful of tracks.
Fire in the Rose Garden will hit the sweet spot for those looking to have their '80s-does'60s itch scratched, and those who aren't immediately convinced by the off-kilter hooks and wide-eyed pop excursions might just be swayed the longer they spend with it.
(Mothland)Fire in the Rose Garden feels like a record destined to be found in a dusty old attic years from now, when you're overtaken by the urge to reminisce on the glory days, to relive those drive-in makeout sessions in the dead of night. It's an eerily nostalgic record built on the mystifying sounds one can make with a guitar, bass, drums, voice, and at times, subtle synthesizer and keys.
Night Lunch's sophomore album may not sound much like music released in 2023, but it doesn't point to a specific time period either. At times — like opener "My Love Is a Rebel" — it's the best of mid-'80s Todd Rundgren, while the tenacity of Gang of Four rings through on the post-punk barn burner "Flames of Love." We even get a darkened spaghetti western ode with "Hangman," ripe with the tremolo guitar tone of surf rockers the Shadows, but sung in the dusky baritone of Nick Cave.
There are moments when the momentum lags — "Roses in the Sun" can't overcome its repetitive, straightforward instrumentation, but the vocals carry it forward into a still-enjoyable slice of throwback pop. Another song that feels a bit off in the mixing and song order (but perhaps purposefully so) is "God Bless the One I Love," with its cutesy faux-religious lyrics — but damn, you can't ignore that falsetto.
More on that singing, because it's where Fire in the Rose Garden truly shines. Frontman Lukie Lovechild (yup) is a vocal chameleon with a mean, mean higher register. We're talking Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' "Sherry" quality here. Yet Lovechild never goes over the top, sometimes switching to a very low croon and popping in a high-pitched falsetto for a surrealistic effect on a song like "Strange Behavior." He's also sometimes supported by backing vocals from keyboard player Wesley MacNeil or bassist Marlee Macmillan, the latter taking on lead vocal duties alongside Lovechild on a handful of tracks.
Fire in the Rose Garden will hit the sweet spot for those looking to have their '80s-does'60s itch scratched, and those who aren't immediately convinced by the off-kilter hooks and wide-eyed pop excursions might just be swayed the longer they spend with it.