Life Boat

Angst—romantic, spiritual, and otherwise—permeates Early Morning Rebel’s Life Boat like mist on a dark winter morning. There’s a palpable intensity to this Los Angeles–based band’s music, keeping the album’s mood tense, volatile, and urgent. There’s a bit of Tindersticks’ exquisite sense of torment here, balanced by a U2-ish feel for the grand sonic gesture. Nathan Blumenfield-James plays a crucial role in bringing EMR’s feverish lyrics to life with his soul-bearing vocal style. Life Boat’s dramatic arc rises from the yearning title number through the prayerful “Howl at the Moon” and the convulsive “Burn Us Down” before cooling down for the elegiac “Four Letter Word.” Along the way, the band probe and dissect the fine points of interpersonal dysfunction, accentuating each emotional twist with piecing guitar thrusts and wailing vocal harmonies. Blumenfield-James and company often achieve shiver-inducing brilliance in these tracks, making the album’s harrowing journey very much worth the ride.