Broken World

Lost City Angels' 2002 debut showed promise, even if it started repeating itself about halfway through. But what the Boston-based punk revivalists lack in songwriting depth they make up for in on-stage sweat, and lots of touring since the self-titled effort has hardened the edges of 2005's Broken World. It's the band's first for a major — the Universal imprint Stay Gold — but LCA haven't broken out the checkbooks, synthesizers or session players. Aided by the veteran Boston production team of Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade, they commit to making their second chapter truer and more gripping than the first. The choruses of "Liberation" and "Final Wish" are street-punk-informed while "Pretty War" is hyper and ragged, falling somewhere between blustery hardcore and a Turbo AC's switchblade smile. Lost City Angels are still young, so their punk aesthetic does occasionally skid on to the emo/whatever axis. "Buried Dreams" is a pop-punk power ballad, while other tracks layer in a screamo-type supporting vocal that sounds out of place with Broken World's more straightforward sounds. But these missteps aren't frequent. Much stronger are tracks like "I'm Trying" and "Faithless on the Floor," where the influence of Social Distortion and Rancid is strong. Vocalist Ron Ragona lives beyond his years in black eyes and hard promises, and the Angels back him up with blistering instrumentation. "Tonight's the Night" is a raucous highlight — it could be vintage Angelic Upstarts doing American hardcore. Another standout is "Clutching at Shadows," where the ever-gruff Ragona trades lines with Boston punk-scene sweetheart Stephanie Dougherty. Lost City Angels are still figuring it out, but Broken World is a great step towards toughness and purity. You can tell they aren't faking it.