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195 metal CDs

Lazer Beam—Lost in Oblivion (2022)

Indie rock | Pop rock | Rock

85%

Cover for Lazer Beam—Lost in Oblivion (2022) shows an illustration of a woman looking at her reflection in a mirror, but the mirror shows a skull instead of her face.

Details

Produced by Lucust French and Chris Hughes.

For fans of Queens of the Stone Age, Patrón, Masters of reality.

Released on Friday 28 October 2022.

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Band

  • Lucust French—Everything

Also featuring

  • Patrón

Tracks

  1. Sorry for the heartache
  2. Lost in oblivion
  3. Skate on by
  4. Dandelion wishes and the knight of wands
  5. Lower your guns
  6. I really want u slowly
  7. Vultures
  8. Derelict (feat. Patrón)
  9. The graveyard

Review

Lost in Oblivion (2022) is the latest release from San Francisco solo project Lazer Beam.

Originally from Jerome, Arizona, multi-instrumentalist Lucust French is the talented musician behind Lazer Beam. Taking influence from major desert rock bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork, and Masters of Reality, his first record was like a duel in the Sonoran desert. After the smoke settled, he then fled to San Francisco, CA and recorded most of the album Lost in Oblivion (2022) in his bus along the way.

Lower your guitars with Lucust French

Continuing to work with producer Chris Hughes on select tracks and also featuring the artist Patrón on the heavy number “Derelict” (track 8). The album is a mellow and creepingly sinister hook-heavy instalment that is sure to keep you company on a lonely cold winter night.

Emotionally, this album takes me to a similar place as Spiritualized’s fabulously trippy and laid-back Ladies and Gentlemen We’re Floating in Space (1997) album.

But that’s not the whole story. Beyond the initial floaty tracks, “Lower your guns” (track 5) reveals an indie rock core to this album, which is played out through the gently driving “I really want u slowly” (track 6) and the slow gallop of “Vultures” (track 7) which evolves into the soundtrack of an Italian film.

But it is the slower, dreamy tracks that I love on this release. The opening “Sorry for the heartache” (track 1), the bubbly and poppy “Lost in oblivion” (track 2), the ponderous “Skate on by” (track 3) which is like the soundtrack to a day lying on the lawn watching the clouds drifting past, the wistful “Dandelion wishes and he knight of wands” (track 4) and the beautifully gentle final track, “The graveyard” (track 10).

Conclusion

There is a good reason that Lazer Beam describes their music as “dream pop” on their Bandcamp page. The music is as dreamy as it it poptastic. With some nods towards indie rock, it’s the floaty, contemplative tracks that touch me most on this album. I’m looking forward to listening to this more in the weeks and months to come.

Review score: 85%

Video

Disclosure

MDPR contacted me inviting me to preview Lazer Beam’s latest release, thank you. I have no connections to either MDPR or Lazer Beam. I’m not being paid to review this, but I did get a free digital copy of the album to review which is pretty cool. Many thanks to Zach from MDPR, and to Lazer Beam for continuing to create fresh, exciting new music.