Pictures

The Len Price 3 made the rather wise decision to make a few alterations to their winning formula on the band’s third album, 2010's Pictures. Their love of mid-'60s Who, mid-'60sSmall Faces, and mid-'60s garage rock still blasts forth from the speakers like a high-volume mash note, their performances are still energetic and powerful, and they still have a youthful enthusiasm that helps them leap past any charges of being mere slavish imitators of past greatness. Pictures is easily the equal of the impressive Rent a Crowd, possibly even superior. It depends on how attached you were to the punk-y aspects of their sound, the rawness and looseness that informed Rent. With the help of producers Jim Riley and Graham Day (who used to lead the Prisoners), the group has slicked up their sound just a little, and added some accouterments like horns and organ (even some strings on the moody ballad "Jack in the Greens"). It’s a definite first step out of the garage and into something bigger. Accordingly, the songs are a touch more sophisticated and, for the most part, fall more along the lines of Sell Out instead of My Generation. While there are still plenty of rockers, the band seem to want to tell some stories this time out. The stories they tell aren’t at the level of Davies or Townshend, but they aren’t embarrassing, either. It’s a nice break from the usual garage punk litany of bad girls and broken hearts that gives the band a leg up on the competition (though they do have a relapse on the album’s weakest song, "Under the Thumb"). Pictures is one of the rare albums that manages to hold tight to what is good about a band (in this case, energy and hooky songs), and add on new things (wider instrumentation, better arrangements) without compromising their strengths. The Len Price 3 may never reach the heights of their inspirations, did but it’s not for lack of ability to craft albums as Pictures so clearly demonstrates.