Living With Lions

Make Your Mark

[3.5/5]

Living With Lions’ first full-length helps disassociate the comparisons to fellow Canadian melodic-hardcore pop-punks Daggermouth that became common in reviews of the band’s Dude Manor EP. Thanks to slick tempo changes and an intermittent spouting of dual vocals, the band make their own mark with their debut LP, despite occasionally holding onto that Lifetime-style hardcore backbone (“My Dilemma”). A perfect mix of downbeat emotion and joy overcomes the “he-ey, yeah!”-laden “A Bottle Of Charades” (which should get Broadway Calls fans stoked), while the chorus on should-have-been-the-closing track “Granny Steps” analyzes urban desolation. Although there’s a vaguely cheesy coating on Make Your Mark, the band’s songwriting is crisp, complex and exciting enough to overcome it. (ADELINE) Brian Schultz



GO DOWNLOAD: “A Bottle Of Charades”