LIONS IN THE STREET
Rock / Blues / Classic Rock
"What the Stones were, what the Dandy Warhols should've been."
Magnet Magazine
When you get kicked in the balls, you have two choices: double over and cry, or force a lying smile and tell the bastard, you missed. After a rough experience with a large US label--one that involved recording an (unfinished) lost record in Los Angeles, and being pursued by legendary producers like Todd Rundgren and Bob Ezrin--Lions In The Street are here to say, You missed.
Following an 18 month goose-chase with the label, the band decided they'd had enough: they hired a great lawyer, and retreated to a damp Vancouver basement, where they wrote some rock and roll
songs inspired by both the frustration of their situation and the excitement of doing things their own way; then they recorded an equally desperate and inspired basement album of these tracks, some 20 odd songs in total. Seriously broke, post label debacle, L.I.T.S. recorded their new material using the only piece of recording equipment available to them: a cheap 8-track unit and some half-broken microphones. In this case, primitive recording techniques were the perfect complement to gut-bucket rock and roll.
The band's determination and resilience, in the face of struggle and disappointment, is apparent in Faces/Stones-inspired romps like "Already Gone," "Mine Ain't Yours," and "You're Gonna Lose." The personal cost of their ordeal--broken and strained relationships--is chronicled in ballads like "Lady Blue" and "Feels Like A Long Time."
However, the man can't keep a good longhair down. And L.I.T.S. are not ones to feel sorry for themselves. They're giving their music directly to the people, for free: In the spirit of DIY, they've released their
"Cat Got Your Tongue" EP
via free download. It's available on their website, and on your favorite peer-to-peer site. They've also made homemade videos included on the EP: two of them are up on their official website, their MySpace site, YouTube.com, and PTP.
Due to demand for rock that rolls, L.I.T.S. have played with Jet, Kings of Leon, Ambulance LTD, The Dirtbombs, The Ponys, The Zutons, and Robbers on High Street, and a bunch of others. Look for their songs and videos online. Its your chance to side with art against commerce, with good against evil, with the little guy against the big guy, and with rock and roll against everything else.
Lions In The Street on MySpace.com
Download Your Free EP, Watch L.I.T.S. Videos, or Buy Cool Merch on our Website: Lionsinthestreet.com
The Big Takeover
This Vancouver four's bio includes several reviews comparing them to the Rolling Stones, and yes sirree, there's plenty of Exile on Main Street, Goat's Head Soup, and It's Only Rock and Roll sons-of-Chuck-Berry riffage going on. There're even similar harmonies and aching "Moonlight Mile" or "Angie" -like balladry in "Feels Like a Long Time" and "Lady Blue". But the thing is, this basement eight-track recording is the punky edge the Stones stopped rollin' after Some Girls. And there's a solid R&B base that takes in a little Dave Edmunds, Eddie & The Hotrods, Ducks Deluxe, and Berry himself, especially on the saucy opener, "Already Gone." (And there's a little Faces in the blues of "You're Gonna Lose.") If you can't be new, be great at the time-tested old.
Jack Rabid
The Nerve Magazine
These guys are recovering from one of those life-changing , major label near misses, apparently. Whatever happened out there, the songwriting has sure gotten leaner since the last time I heard 'em, when they were called the Years. And boy do they ever look like they sound. The time warp is so strong on Lions in the Street that it almost feels naughty to enjoy it so much, but if Faces/Stones is your bag, they're doing it waaaaay better than most. Good for both pub and convertible, like a British rock band trying to sound like mellow Americans in 1973. That's still considered fun in some people's homes, and certainly in mine. Grab it all for free from their website, you lucky people.
Adrian Mack
The Georgia Straight
Cat Got Your Tongue (Independent)
The hipper-than-thou worms at Magnet certainly nailed Lions in the Street when they described the band as What the Stones were, what the Dandy Warhols shouldve been. The five-song Cat Got Your Tongue sounds like lost tracks from the sessions for Some Girls, a record that quite arguably stands as the Glimmer Twins finest moment. All street-fighting guitars and sucking-in-the-70s vocals, the only knock on the EP is that Lions in the Street sound more like vintage Jagger and Richards than they do a band playing original material. In other words, they do the Rolling Stones better in 2006 than the Rolling Stones themselves. Still, the final track on Cat Got Your Tongue a thundering acid-blooze explosion titled Youre Gonna Lose suggests that Lions in the Street are already on their way to finding a sound thats truly their own. When they do, these guys may well be unstoppable.
Mike Usinger
Location: Vancouver, BC
Members: Chris: Guitar/Vocals; Sean: Guitar; Enzo: Bass; Jeff: Drums, Organ
Cat Got Your Tongue
May 20, 2006
murAMtonned
Denton, TX
amdogg88
California/Wisconsin
jbarnes1313
Wichita Falls, Tx
Carnificinerius
Pompeia,SP Brazil
Smalls7
Love your sound!!!!!!!!
posted Mar 24
Smalls7
Love your sound!!!!!!!!
posted Mar 24
kylebbb
nicely done. I, in fact, like you guys better than the
stones. I\'m from abbotsford, and I\'m thinking you
guys should play some local shows, that\'d be sweet.
keep it up, the music is rad.
posted Feb 26
The One and Only Billy Shears
Really Good... Come play in Louisiana some time.
posted Jan 03
vy
you guys rock! need a show in brazil! cheers ;*
posted Nov 05
HeR-pOpSiCle-MeLtS15!
Wow your music is incredible!! I\'m really feeling the
music ,all about the oldskool funk! keep on rockin\'
! love lina
posted Sep 29
namehere012
I live in van=] I\'m glad to see thats good bands on
here that arn\'t from the states! You guyss are really
good=]
posted Sep 16