LEFTY
self-titled (Interscope)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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My room-mate was on Lefty's mailing list a year or two ago, before Interscope decided to throw some cash their way and send them into the studio. Like other Orange County bands Sugar Ray, Rule 62, Wank, and Atomic Boy (now called U.S. Crush), Lefty reach in vain for the big brass ring: No more crap day-jobs, no more playing at 1am at Club Mesa to people too drunk to go home. The life as a true rawk god. Waking up around noon, humpin' around with hot chixx, drinking free beer, touring, headlining huge shows where everyone sings the choruses back to you: "I don't mean to say it, but somebody needs to put an end to girls." Well, maybe not the last bit.

I really don't wanna just bag on Lefty. I hate to just point out the painfully obvious and one-dimensional qualities this band have: the bro-isms, the dumb tattoos, the shirt-free posing of one guy in the insert, and the dude next to him with the spikey 'punk' hair. The drummer who appears as though he just likes to hit things. "Drummmmms..." A drumb-er. It's mean-spirited of me to just blow them off as another shite O.C Bum-Out. Another let down for Interscope Records. Maverick just about shit cash for all of the publicity they tossed at Wank. They even painted their faces on the wall of the Whisky in Hollywood, hoping their debut's fly off the shelves, and be a good sequel to the Alanis Morrissette cd that sold a few copies for them. Now you'd be lucky to even find a copy of Wank's album used. Poor you. That's how quickly the party ended for those guys. I unfortunately see the same thing with Lefty. High-fives (naturally) among the band-members, maybe an article in Mean Street or other Orange County press accolades, and not a lot else. Am I lamenting this actuality? Yes! I'm just waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting for something else to come along; a band who doesn't bite everyone else's style so hard -- a band with their own identity. Instead you get more watered-down versions of Green Day, D.I., and Social Distortion (the latter two being from O.C. This cd is okay for what it is. Totally mundane, overwrought, and sickening in it's predictability. Pass the beer-nuts, brah.

3/10

© 2002 - Jason Thornberry