Lostalone are a band beloved of critics and other musicians – including Jared Leto and Gerard Way – but remain curiously unknown to the general public. Goodness only knows why, as they’re a fantastic live act and frontman Steven Battelle has a real talent for penning theatrical rock anthems as catchy as they are unusual. Their latest effort ‘The Bells! The Bells!’ is the first single from their upcoming third album, and shows he’s lost none of his touch.
The song starts off with a riot of heavy metal drumming and soon blossoms into an absolutely soaring rock number, with Battelle’s unusual voice giving the song an almost operatic feel. Lostalone’s songs often feature intelligent lyrics, and this track’s no exception, with pointed observations like ‘Everybody hopes for change, but they don’t know what to change about themselves’ complementing the absolutely thunderous chorus. The high point of this song is when the group substitute the standard rock guitar breakdown for vocal harmonies repeating the ‘ding dong-ing’ sound of bells. It’s a bonkers kind of musical genius, and if this doesn’t give Lostalone the break they need, I don’t know what will.
8/10
Lostalone are currently on tour with The Darkness, and ‘The Bells! The Bells!’ is available for free download here.
