Loch Lomond – Little Me Will Start A Storm Album Review

This is the kind of album that is familiar the first time you hear it. And that is not to say that it is derivative of any pre-established sound, but rather chock full of diverse influences. Whether intentional or not, I can hear some Echo And The Bunnymen, some The Shins, some John Parish, and even some Talking Heads. Little Me Will Start A Storm‘s melodies are comfortable and comforting, but this release is not merely a walk in the park. The song order for this latest effort from Portland’s Loch Lomond is very effective in letting the listener swiftly begin to access the album.

The first three tracks — “Blue Lead Fences,” “Elephants & Little Girls,” and “I Love Me” — are instantly impressionable. Their rhythms and refrains quickly work their way into your mind. The album-title-referencing lyrics, “It feels good to be young/ Little me will start a storm,” work together with the delicate but deliberate vibraphone sound to weave a memorable mini-symphony in “Blue Lead Fences.” Lines from the second song (also the current single), such as “Now, we’re having fun/ Now, we’re living life,” make it apparent that though Loch Lomond may come across as simple and direct, the music is also open-ended and left up to interpretation. In fact, the lyrics throughout the album are simultaneously easy to follow and full of various meanings. “I Love Me” is the first of two songs on the album which has an intriguing haunting essence to it. This track and “Earth Has Moved Again” take up residence in your mind like a ghost in a house — a benevolent one, thankfully, but a goosebump-creating one, nonetheless.

Listen to “Blue Lead Fences” – DOWNLOAD MP3

Upon closer and repeated listens, the songs in middle of the album, like the two water songs, evince themselves to be highly textured and delicately layered. Those tracks are worth the wait and patience to be able to appreciate them. And, with the addition of some saw in the foreground, how can the listener resist but from being captivated by an instrumental track like “Water Bells”? Additionally, “Water In Astoria” has the kind of choral harmonies that could elicit tears, as the accompanying acoustic guitar acts like more of a harp than a guitar.

The final number, “Alice Left with Stockings and Earrings,” creates a lyrical climax which reigns the listener in, even if the middle tracks have not been as easily accessible on the first few listens. “All 6,000 men can’t be wrong,” chant the vocals in a gentle finality. This song could either be the sunrise or the sunset for the adventure-filled day that is this album. And there we are, in the middle of it, grateful that Loch Lomond took us along for the journey.