"They're clever but not glib, scrappy but not hardened, and seem to know how to confront crimes of the heart without yielding to them."
-Alison Lang (Music Men Ruined for Me).
EPK
Like A Motorcycle is a full frontal attack to a soundtrack.
Like A Motorcycle is three bombastic queers and one, very patient, man. The four deal in emotionally laden themes held tightly behind a shield of snotty petulance. Like A Motorcycle could beat you up but would rather fix you dinner. Like A Motorcycle are Canada’s sweethearts. Like A Motorcycle are the friends you never asked for.
Since their 2016 debut, “High Hopes”, the band has been through the wringer but always seems to crawl back for more. Their sophomore album, "Dead Broke" (2020), fist fought with the more egregious struggles of being a rock band and individuals grappling with power abuse in the industry, conquering some major substance issues, and battles with mental health while barely scraping by. The album was released in October 2020; despite growing the band’s audience substantially the album was never properly toured due to the pandemic.
Locked during the pandemic and forced to confront the nuances of interpersonal relationships and mental health, LAM made significant changes both as a team and as individuals. These changes saw the restructuring of the band as well as the band’s fundamental values - truth and vulnerability - which made way for further sonic exploration a more raw and honest collection of songs.
Reunited with producer Howard Redekopp (Mother Mother, Now Now, Tegan and Sara) in January 2023, the band entered the studio to record LP #3 “Pretty Pleased” and emerged with an 11-song rollercoaster that shows undeniable growth for the band.
Less of a petulant middle finger than its predecessors (High Hopes and Dead Broke), Pretty Please serves as a giant rhetorical “Why?”. It's an album created while rubbing sobering eyes and looking around at a hellscape ruled by late-stage capitalism. It's a hand extended to those brave enough to be soft in a brutally hard world and a nod to everyone committed to not looking away while our knees collectively buckle.
Sonically, the band embarks on a ride through their diverse musical backgrounds, while continuing to build on the loud and at times dissonant qualities for which the four are known. Somatically, the goal was capturing an anxiety, an anguish, to “want to cry your eyes out but also kick everything over”. Too exhausted to continue to hide the pill in the hotdog and shroud every emotional admission in humour and metaphor - Pretty Pleased is LAM’s most emotionally raw and honest collection of songs to date.
