Album Review: Look Mexico 'To Bed To Battle'

Look Mexico is a band of many members with many talents. In their new and second overall studio album, To Bed To Battle, the band from Tallahassee, FL shows their ranging musical abilities. Some bands can be accused of having a lead singer that tries to steal the glory from his other band mates, however, lead vocalist Matt Agrella cannot be charged with this offense for his work on this album. In some songs such as “They Offered Me A Deal (I Said No, Naturally)” his voice is only heard as a compliment of sorts to the rest of the band member’s instruments. While for one song this idea of putting a band’s instrumental skills on showcase is great, a fault arises when this becomes the formula.

The track lengths on To Bed To Battle range anywhere from just over 2 minutes to nearly 6! However, most of the song’s lyrics begin to fade out at the 2 and a half minute mark. Several times I caught myself checking to see if the song was over when in actuality it still had a couple of minutes left to play itself out. Powerful lyrics often aide in the creation of great song, and when they are only used for one verse per song a listener can often be left feeling robbed. The strong drum work by former drummer Joshua Mikel shines through as the most consistent component of the album. Whether being used as a background to one of Agrella’s brief stints of singing or as a headline with beats that closely resemble that of Radiohead, Mikel’s skill is apparent. While there is potential within nearly every song to be a hit single, the sad fact is that the short and compact lyrics leave the listener with the feeling that this album is still an unfinished piece of work.

For more information on Look Mexico check out their official website and MySpace page. To Bed To Battle is available now on .