Lions

Lions

Lions ringleader Matt Drenik points at you, then he points toward the sky. Riff for riff, the local quartet's working-class rock & roll improves upon its first entry, last year's Volume One EP. No Generation offers tighter production, heavier hooks, and the grooves, particularly in the psychedelic trance of "White Angel," are thicker. It all comes together in the escalating din of the album's opening call to action, "Start Movin," and the militant, Red River stomp of "Evil Eye." In searching for a voice to its nameless generation, however, the band ends up pillaging the past, most evident on the drugged-out dirge of "Can You Hear Me," which makes the latter half of this LP a draining experience. Like the target audience being addressed, No Generation rebels with cause and conviction yet without a clear picture of itself.