The Lost Patrol Band
The Lost Patrol Band
Burning Heart/Epitaph
Political songwriters have a tough go of it when they decide to switch gears and ditch the revolution for other extracurricular interests. Bob Dylan was the most notable figure to feel his audience’s wrath, when he changed from passionate moralistic songs to equally passionate, but surrealist love songs. Of course, Dylan never explicitly espoused any particular political beliefs. The same can’t be said of The Lost Patrol Band’s frontman Dennis Lyxen. He’s put in time in two dyed-in-the-wool anarchist punk collectives, Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and while both of those outfits leavened the political grandstanding with heartfelt affection for their brothers and sisters in the revolution, Lost Patrol ditches every aspect of social consciousness. As its song titles indicate (“A Girl Like You,” “My Heart is Still a Mess,” “Pick Me Up”), it’s an album devoted to sorting out Lyxzen’s not so recent break-up with his girlfriend set against a big poppy backdrop. No one should fault the man for having human emotions, but we can still be picky about the songwriting. Like attempting to navigate an album by The Knack, one song is awesome, two are pretty great, but by the time track ten rolls around, you realize you’ve tuned out the last third of the disc. Hope your heart heals soon, Dennis, so you can start making memorable music again.
Burning Heart: http://www.burningheart.com
