Reviews

San Francisco’s own Lights Out are young, fast, and pissed hardcore kids. They grew up with Gorilla Biscuits hoodies in the pit at all times and a desire to play minute long songs with multiple chances to dance in each one. Get Out, their record for Youngblood Records (which includes their 2003 Demo), is the realization of these dreams, an amazingly well recorded 13 track ode to Champion sweat suits and Youth of Today shows at CBGBs. 
 
Actually though, this record bears more of a resemblance to today's positive youth playing fast as hell bands like Internal Affairs or Desperate Measures. Lights Out is most akin to a less hilarious XFilesX, fast simple drums beats, fast simple guitars, and fast simple lyrics. What sets Light Out apart is the incredible production on the new songs they recorded for Get Out. You can hear vocalist Connor’s every breath between screaming himself raw between verses berating ex-hardcore kids on Another Look: “Post hardcore sucker/ Don’t think for a second that you’re better than me.” In this aspect, Lights Out nails the issue: being in the scene can be like a family, and you don’t sell family out. Unfortunately, this theme can get a little tiring, which may be why people leave the scene in the first place; it can be too restrictive and repetitive. Ultimately, that’s what this record ends up being as well. And thirteen songs in 15 minutes? XFilesX gave us 22 in the same amount of time, and the lyrical topics got beyond the usual don’t sell out threats.
 
Lights Out aren’t a bad band at all, but they need a little refining and expansion (both lyrically and musically) before they really hit their stride. In the mean time, revel in the forceful vocal phrasing on the mosh heavy third track Suck This Dry, “You can’t suck this dry / You can try to ruin the scene / but you’ll never ruin me.”