Connecticut band Lana Lana releases first album “Swap Shop, Good Morning”

Connecticut band Lana Lana’s first LP “Swap Shop, Good Morning” is an underground sludge-punk album that is a surprisingly good freshman effort.

While it’s not exactly what someone could call a “thinking man’s” album, it’s certainly fun to listen to. The songs, penned by guitarist/vocalist Joe Pelegano and drummer Alex McCarthy, are heavy, fast, short and entertaining.

The instrumentals are a quality mix of heavily fuzzed guitar riffs and lighter surf-tinged licks reminiscent of Chalk Talk’s releases, though it clearly takes many influences from a variety of underground surf-punk and sludge bands.

One of the greatest moments on the album comes near the end of its eight-track length, and that is the entirety of the instrumental track “Chalupacabra: Legendary Beast.”

After the first two-thirds of the very heavy album, the song takes the LP down an emotional road.

“Chalupacabra: Legendary Beast” easily harkens back to instrumental tracks by late 90s indie band American Football, and even incorporates sound clips from the film “Little Miss Sunshine.” The use of these sound bites surprisingly does not become hackneyed, as the use of sound bites tends to be on other records, but remains an emotional moment on the album.

However, the album is not perfect. It suffers from the typical first-album-weaknesses that underground punk albums have.

The production is muddy and leaves the vocals occasionally inaudible, and in turn, it is difficult to participate in what’s most important about underground punk: the band’s live shows.

Joe Pelegano’s voice definitely takes getting used to, as it isn’t very melodic and he more often speaks and yells the lyrics than actually sings.

As a whole, the vocals are the weakest part of the album—but considering the album is intended to appeal to a niche-punk-market, it certainly works for Lana Lana in this setting.

Best Tracks: “Chalupacabra: Legendary Beast” and “French, What Are Ya Doin’?”

Worst Track: “White Lined Paper”

Album rating: 7/10

Listen to the album: lanalana.bandcamp.com