IN REVIEW: Ceremony - "The L-Shaped Man"

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If you've frequented this blog over the years, we've probably already had this talk. However, for the sake of the others, there are few groups of fans so fickle and doggedly closed minded as punk fans. A punk band that dares to stray outside their fans' comfort zone is often met with dismissal and/or disdain or far worse, and anyone who doubts that can talk to Laura Jane Grace about Against Me's early days.

So, when your band draws such nuanced criticism as "kill it with fire", "puts me to sleep", "fucking sellouts", "adult contemporary hard rock" and "gay", as Ceremony did for a tune as perfectly serviceable as Adult (a single from previous album Zoo), it's pretty safe to say you've started to expand your sound and refine your songwriting. Sorry about your feelings, YouTube commenters, but Ceremony progressed beyond your narrow scope of what music is then and continue to do so on fifth album The L-Shaped Man.

Rather than cater to a thankless, entitled fan base willing to spew hatred at the slightest hint of evolution, Ceremony chose to leave them behind by looking to the past; Joy Division and The Smiths are easy comparisons, but it's hard not to draw parallels with the dark tones and morose performances peppering The L-Shaped Man. Hell, the album is sort of named after '60s flick The L-Shaped Room, which was sampled on The Smiths' The Queen is Dead. If that doesn't tell you what they're aiming for, I don't know what else to say.

That said, the tunes are up to snuff. The sinister groove of Exit Fears works on its own merits, as does the nervous energy of lead single Your Life in France. When the velocity does rise, as it does on Bleeder, The Separation and The Party, they play like precursors to the post-punk fury Bloc Party turned out a decade ago on Silent Alarm. When the album closes out with the hazy, nocturnal The Understanding, its sum is as thrilling for fans who've stuck around as it is upsetting for those who'd have had Ceremony in a state of suspended musical progression.

May 19, 2015 • Matador
Highlights Exit Fears • Your Life in France • The Understanding

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