Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: For nearly seven years, my measuring stick for Small Stone debuts has been the first, self-titled Sasquatch album, and each new band that?s come along on the label (there have been plenty) since then, I?ve said, ?Well, okay, but is it as good as the Sasquatch?? Listening to Lo-Pan?s Salvador ? which, admittedly, is their third album following a self-titled and the excellent Sasquanaut which Small Stone re-released late last year ? I might have to revise my comparison point.

I was fortunate enough to hear rough mixes of Salvador back in December, and even as rough as those tracks were compared to the finished product I?m reviewing now, it was clear that the Columbus, Ohio, band, the label, and anyone who would seek it out to listen, had something formidable on their hands. I don?t want to get lost in hyperbole or overestimate the appeal of the record, but Lo-Pan?s Salvador has all the makings of a classic in the genre.

The single-guitar four-piece present 11 tracks in just under 46 minutes, and nearly each one of them is perfectly memorable (I?m not counting ‘Intro’, though even the riff to that is catchy), varied in its approach and masterfully written. The guitars of Brian Fristoe are unrepentantly fuzzed out, and his riffs are heavy rock of the highest order, and Jeff Martin?s soulful, wonderfully melodic and inventive vocals cut through the thickness just right, followed by Skot Thompson?s running bass and the center-stage drums of J. Bartz.

Having seen them live on more than one occasion, Lo-Pan is one of those bands where each element involved in the making of the songs just works so well, and on Salvador, not only are those elements working, but they?re working together. You can listen to any part of any song on this record and say, ?That?s killer,? or you can listen to how the parts interact with each other and say the same thing. It comes down to this: if you?re not coming out of Salvador glad to have heard it, it?s your own fault.

Continue reading: The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Lo-Pan?s Salvador Will Melt the Clock off Your Wall.
(Courtesy of The Obelisk)