Review Summary: A band restored
I’ve always most associated Restorations with that little burst of Americana punk bands (think The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, The State Lottery, etc.) who thrived at the tail end of the aughts, entering the ‘10s, united by a combination of melody, grit, and (most importantly) an undying love of the Boss. This Philly band did indeed emerge from that era (their debut LP released in 2011), were broadly speaking a punk group, and featured gravelly singing of tales equal parts celebration of youth and contemplation of the menacing specter of the awaiting future, so that connection is definitely a thing. Nonetheless, in terms of sonic formula they do stand apart, quite distinctly. Their chosen mixture is sorta punk, sorta grunge, sorta shoegaze, fused together as an amorphous mixture which doesn’t sound overly like any of the aforementioned bands. Therefore, perhaps it’s most apt just to call them a “guitar-centric” kind of act, with riffs and solos and feedback being the focal point, preferably listened to with the volume cranked up.
I’ve found myself regularly revisiting the band’s works in recent years (particularly their first and third albums), and without ever hearing a definitive statement that Restorations had either disbanded or went on indefinite hiatus, I’d assumed that we’d ever get any more new music from them. 2024, after all, marks six years since the band’s last release, the cartoonishly-titled
LP5000, a characteristically excellent soundtrack of Trump-era disillusionment. But here we are, the band nearing middle age, returning to ply their craft once more.
The most striking thing about this self-titled effort, given the context, is how little has changed.
Restorations feels like a Restorations album, full stop - nine songs delivered with abandon, crunching guitar and gruff roars, repeated lyrical mantras not exactly brilliant but possessing a notable kind of profundity. The musicians may be older, the fabric of their society might be even more frayed since the last time we heard from them, but some things never change, and it’s mighty satisfying to hear once more the same fusion of the raucous and the anthemic as ever.
Opener “Field Recordings” is a great start, a driving tune completely invested in the band’s blue-collar concerns. Throughout the record, there’s a steady balance of both rollicking hard rock-isms and a more delicate and shimmery approach which pops up regularly and feels well-integrated. There are plenty of textbook examples of the band’s quietly evocative lyrics as well - “
and it’s all gone in the middle of the night, when we’re all just goin’ by feel” from “800” or the magical phrase “
hungover oblivion” from “The Cost” immediately come to mind. The closing trio of the tracklist really shine - “Someone Else’s Dream” is one of Restorations’ finest tunes, bar none, featuring an alluring combination of wonderful melodicism and gruff vox, while “This Guy Does Not Remember You” demonstrates a maximalist approach to Restorations’ sound, as well as incorporating a highly memorable (and quite funny) bellowing of “
this fucking guy” (doubt you’ll miss it).
Meanwhile, closer “Charm” is exactly the note one would hope for this album to end upon. Elegant but still holding plenty of primal power, its earnest lyrics gain even more potency from their placement in the return of a now-grizzled old favorite to the scene - I’m talking about stuff like “
maybe we could walk around like the people we used to be” - yeah, that hits me right in the feels. And, not to be outdone, there’s a bunch of “woah” choruses - simple but effective. Really, “simple but effective” is probably the best synopsis for
Restorations. The band hasn’t evolved too much here, but they’ve delivered an end result just as rock-solid as the rest of their illustrious (if somewhat underappreciated) catalog. Rejoice, the boys are back in town.
