The Lapse
Heaven Ain’t Happenin’ CD - Southern

Chris Leo is the Mark E. Smith of indie rock (I still consider Mark E. Smith the Mark E. Smith of punk rock, if it’s all the same to you). Now perhaps this is a loaded statement, but it is mostly to say that they have similar singing techniques, trouble keeping a band together, and party a lot. It is a shame that this record will be the final one with Toko Yasuda, who brought a sense of balance to the band. There are the obvious gender and race issues that could be brought up to discuss just that point, but I am opting to omit them because I don’t really feel like talking about them, and I’m guessing you don’t want to hear about them either. That being said, this record seems much more cohesive than their previous record. Whereas The Betrayal seemed like a collection of songs, this actually sounds like an album - concept or no. There are two distinct voices singing about different things, but it all comes together somehow. Whilst their songs are very much their own, this record is about the relationship between the songs, between the humans. It is a shame, indeed. (BJR)