Send "Locksley " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 When I first saw Locksley’s website, I thought they were just some powerpop band that attracted pre-teen girls with their words about “love” and first crushes. Needless to say, I was not expecting much. However, when I downloaded their album Be In Love, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. There were no electronic introductions and no overly auto-tuned voices. In fact, their sound had more of a British rock feel, even sometimes bluesy; although the band describes themselves as ‘doo-wop punk’. The only thing they did have though have was songs about girls. In my opinion, they were able to pull it off. For all you Hellogoodbye fans, this album reminded me very much of their most recent project, Would It Kill You? - minus the lyrical content. Despite the happy-go-lucky sound to every last one of these songs, some of the lyrics have contrasting meanings. For instance, the second song on the album is about a guy leaving his significant other, even though it seems as if neither of them want it: “I’m going now even though your arms are the place I know.” Another example of not a sad, but a more serious love song, is titled “Days of Youth.” This song was written by the lead guitarist Kai Kennedy, and has a more mature romantic feel due to lyrics such as “And I’ll try to remember you, when we were brand new / in our days of youth.” Yet with that mature song comes an immature one. The third song on the album, “One More Minute,” written by their bassist Jordan Laz, has lyrics that are likely found in a teenage girl band: “I leave, Quietly shut the door,” “Just give me one more minute to reload, I’ll fire another round, hear you scream and shout.” Sound-wise the band was varied with the times. Certain songs, such as “Love You Too,” had an 80’s feel, and reminded me of artists like David Lee Roth era of Van Halen; while other songs, such as “Darling It’s True,” had a playful 60’s feel like The Monkees. Their ability to mimic such a vast era was a talent I found interesting, seeing as this sound will most likely appeal to a bigger fan group....full text |
| 411mania |
| I feel like I’ve watched the Brooklyn via Wisconsin four piece Locksley, grow up over the years. After checking out a few of their early tracks on various blogs and attending the album release concert for their second album Don’t Make Me Wait at a bar the size of my living room, I felt invested in their success. They have gotten bigger since then, headlining MTV’s Vote or Die tour, and performing as the backing band for Ray Davies of The Kinks, yet, I still get excited when the band gets a break, most recently when their music popped up on, of all places, an episode of Jersey Shore. So needless to say when an advance copy of their third album, Be In Love popped up on the album review list from 411’s fearless leader Mitch Michaels, I was all over it. 1. Love You Too 2. Darling, It’s True 3. One More Minute 4. Days of Youth 5. 21st Century 6. Away From Here 7. The Whip 8. Down for Too Long 9. On Fire 10. It Isn’t Love 11. The Way That We Go 12. The World Isn’t Waiting But don’t worry, this review won’t be a puff piece. In fact, reviewing Be In Love taught me an important life lesson (well, important in the scheme of my music reviewing gig): sometimes it's better to remain a surface fan of an act you love rather than analyze their work with a critic’s scalpel. What I love most about Locksley, their infectious exuberance is present in spades on the new album, especially in the longtime concert sing along staple “Darling, It’s True.”...full text |
| Popmatters |
| Locksley probably kick ass live. The drums tumble and crash, keeping things moving at a respectable clip even on the less loud or urgent material. The guitars have some bite to them, tough enough to provide a little grit, but not so grimy as to lose the sweetness of that Beatles-y augmented chord on the turnaround. The vocals are bellowed with passion but stay on pitch, while backup singers “ooh” in all the right places. Here’s the thing, though. Reread the paragraph above, and think about it for a moment. You’ll come away with more or less the same experience as having actually listened to the album. Even if there isn’t another band out there that sounds exactly like Locksley, they’re working with such familiar components that they can’t help but feel generic. Without some distinctive element to their sound—more specific lyrics, stronger melodies, something, anything—Be in Love leaves the listener with only the feeling of having heard rock ‘n’ roll, rather than bestowing any lasting impressions. That’s why Locksley seems particularly suited to live performance. As the music is happening, it’s fun, and when it’s over, it’s over. But on record, after the last song fades, you’re just left with an album you can barely remember, rather than the actual experience of seeing a rock ‘n’ roll band in a club. This album’s pleasures are so ephemeral and fleeting that, if it were any less buoyant or accessible, I’d be tempted to declare it some kind of meta commentary on impermanence. Some songs emerge with repeated listens. Single “Darling, It’s True” has a skipping beat and a chorus hook memorable and indelible enough to make it worthwhile. The two songs written by lead guitarist Kai Kennedy (“Days of Youth” and “Away from Here”) have enough interesting production touches and chord voicings to make them stand out from the other tunes, even if they’re not substantially different at their core. “The Whip” is a bit more repetitive than the rest of the record, and the “woah”-based chorus less inspired, but it’s hardly unendurable. The truth is, though, that if you like any of these songs, you’ll probably like all of them. An album like Be in Love poses an interesting journalistic challenge: how do you grade music that’s barely even there? You, dear reader, would do well to treat the rating below as a general guideline. If you’re after an immersive musical experience, rich with layers of sonic detail and meticulous, poetic lyrics—if you’re the sort who’d actually want a metamusical concept album about transience—you might want to drop that down a number. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for two to three minutes of crashing guitars and ear-grabbing hooks at a time, feel free to add a point or two....full text |
Locksley lyrics
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