LAP, or Life Among People to give them their long name, are a Manchester based threesome and feature Tony on guitars and vocals, Phil on bass and Jim on drums.  They have previously released a mini album called “Life Among People” and received quite a measure of acclaim across the board, making fans out of the Radio 1 Rock Show and also Bruce Dickinson’s Radio 6 music show. 

What they offer seems to be a mix between Rock, Thrash and Punk and they have found a very tasty balance between the three.  At times you are assailed with full on grunting vocals which fade off to a more melodious tone, and then suddenly slap you around the back of the head again as the vocals kick off into anger mode.  The guitars offer the pre-requisite riffs, power chords et all, but also show off with some really clear and crisp finger plucking which really does stand out from the crowd.  In the same vein the drums seem to be very simplistic in their output, seemingly using the snare drum as the focal point of their effort, but again it is clear and crisp, beat perfect and different to anything that I have heard for a long time. 

They produce music that is deft and intricate and have created a sound that is a very interesting slice of British hardcore rock/punk with an added twist of brutal metal as the icing on top.  LAP seem to be refusing to stick to any particular genre and are instead intent on producing something that transcends anything that I have heard in the rock scene recently.  If you were to look at their influences you would need to put aside a day just to read through them all. 

I keep harping on about the clarity and crispness of their playing, and that is because the style on some of their songs brings back memories of “The Police” when they first started out, the almost acoustic style they used with just a little hint of echo in places, the very basic but lively drumming. 

I don’t think that any of the songs on this release would be classed as mainstream and as such wouldn’t get much air time on the more popular radio stations, but if they were to find that one golden song then they could go on to bigger and better things.

Let us know your views on 'The Ignored Effect'

Track Listing

Intro/Point And Shoot
The Minute I Leave Is The Minute I Die
Sky Blind
A Lesson In Simulation
In Dog Years You're Dead
End Ever
Sleep Is Near

Line Up

Tony - Voacls/Guitars
Phil - Bass/Vocals
Jim - Drums