For those with some imagination, the album’s title might immediately evoke thoughts of intelligencia pondering that place between fire and water where life and blood exist. Or maybe it is simply that fire, blood and water are just the essentials of life? Maybe that is the simple tie, I really don’t know, but to me this music is raw and essential. It has the energy of the early Who albums, though maybe not that talent. Though entirely different than The Who in so many ways, I can’t help but start and finish with that comparison. The songs are loose, energetic and dynamic – and at least through the first four tracks, able to deliver a keening pop edge and an almost radio-friendly flair.

Don’t get me wrong with my comment about the first four tracks. This is a solid album straight through. They haven’t left their garage/indie roots as The Blackouts, but they have matured without losing anything. They even grunged things out on the album’s closing track, Conquistador which feels wonderful cranked up a bit (headphones and ear-buds don’t do it justice, go ahead and crank it up).

I love albums like this. Either through intention and intelligence, the nature of the band, or lack of funds, the album avoids the production qualities and polish that ruin so much of the music like this in the last few years. I sincerely hope that their growing popularity does not result in the next album taking many months in the studio with a big time producer trying to make them sound like something they are not. Certainly ambition never hurt The Who, but the world is different today and finding the gems in this kind of modern alternative rock is rare. The Living Blue have created something vital here. The contrasts and contradictions are beautiful and compelling. The vocals range from energetic to disinterested and detached.

I count this as their third album, since the first two were as The Blackouts. The sound is all still there, only better. This is there best album to date in my opinion, though I will hazard a guess that their best is yet to come. Assuming they can avoid popularity and the kiss-of-death over-production that comes with money and success. Even if music continues to transmogrify leaving The Strokes and The Vines and others behind, there’s something in the sum of The Living Blue that I believe will find an audience. They dip deeply in to the traditional well of rock and roll, but there is so much more here. If you decide to check them out, give the album a good listen. Don’t judge them on one song, give the whole album a listen. Though I was pretty busy, in the last two weeks I’ve made it through the entire CD easily more than twenty times. One of the great things is my favorite tracks keep changing. I am sure on the first few listens I hardly noticed track four, Serrated Friend and now its one of my favorites.

If you are looking for a hit factory album that will play out nationally, this is not it. If you are looking to put on a foot-tapping, rock and roll record that may drive you to get up and dance around (or gawd-forbid play a little reckless air guitar), then check it out. But please don’t cheat yourself and download Tell Me Leza and leave it at that. This is a great album that straddles the underground and the mainstream deftly and deserves a place in your CD collection.

You can listen to “Tell Me Leza”, from this album in our Music Player