Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You

Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You by Lightspeed Champion

Devonte Hynes is better known to many as Lightspeed Champion, but before he donned the moniker he was a member of the English band Test Icicles. After Test Icicles split in 2006, Hynes started his own project in Lightspeed Champion and made a huge splash with the debut LP of "Falling Off The Lavender Bridge" in 2008. Lavender Bridge was produced by Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes fame and featured Mogis, Nate Walcott (also of Bright Eyes), and many other notable musicians. The album came out with a distinct sound that was incredibly heartfelt, but also had a lighthearted feeling to it as well (With a song title like 'Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk how couldn't it be). Either way, the 2010 album "Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You" was one that many were looking forward to, especially since it featured the live favorite "Madame Van Damme". The album has a very different feel to the debut, which isn't a flaw but it has it's own highs and lows.

The album kicks in with "Dead Head Blues" which in itself features a unique blend of a twangy sounding guitar with piano accompanying Hynes' unique voice pouring out "I know you're happy and thats lovely/It won't keep me complete" and erupts into an anthemic ending which smoothly transitions into "Marlene", the albums first single. "Marlene" sounds more like the first album than any other song on the album, but it also shows off the unique sound that Devonte has created with "Life Is Sweet". However, the catchy "Stop being cool" chorus is one of the few moments that really sticks out amongst the album. Devonte showcases his new style with a guitar solo that shows you just how much he's developed as an artist in "Marlene", something that you wouldn't have seen in "Lavender Bridge", however one of the biggest problems with this album is he can't seem to follow up with more high moments. "Everybody knows you want a baby/And god knows everybody wants one too" is just one of the many lines that makes you sit down and reevaluate the song and wonder whether or not it really is one of the highlights of the album or just another one of the songs that just seems to only serve the purpose of providing an extra track on the album.

Diversity is certainly not a problem on "Life Is Sweet". Each song has it's own unique sound to it and parallels his songwriting in terms of how jumpy everything feels, leaving you on the edge wondering just where he will take the next song, or even where the current song will end up. Devonte also has a way of singing anything and molding the lyrics to fit the sound he wants it to have. When one hears "Kill me, baby won't you kill me" they certainly wouldn't think that it's in the poppiest song of the album, and that's just one of the many examples of this on the album. Every high point is complemented with a greater low, which unfortunately puts a damper on what could have been a very good album. There's simply far too many bland songs for the album to stick out as something truly great, even when compared to how brilliantly everything seemed orchestrated on "...Lavender Bridge", much less when compared to what's been released in the past two months from other bands. The album certainly had a lot of potential, but it ultimately just sort of fades out halfway through and leaves the listener waiting for something to come that never does.

Rating: 7/10

Standout Tracks: "Dead Head Blues", "Marlene", "Madame Van Damme"