Review: Lewd Acts
Band: Lewd Acts
Album: Black Eyed Blues
Label: Deathwish Inc.
Release Date: 09/01/2009
Genre: Hardcore
Rating: 
4.5/5
by Shane Stiles
Hardcore doesn’t always need to be fast two steps, headwalks and sing alongs. Sometimes you need a smack in the face from the shit that life throws at us on a regular basis. This is Lewd Acts, dirty, uncut, unadulterated. After three seven inches and one full length, the band has made their presence felt in a big way with Black Eyed Blues. Falling on the hardcore spectrum somewhere between Outbreak, Trap Them, and American Nightmare, Lewd Acts is what you would think them to be, raw as hell and unhappy about it (and everything else for that matter).
Produced by hardcore icon Kurt Ballou (guitarist of converge Converge, board wizard behind Disfear, Torche, Trap Them, etc.), Black Eyed Blues oozes with bitterness and power. Each song offers a new level of intensity, whether it’s a lower low that makes your skin crawl like “Who Knew The West Coast Could Be So Cold”, the straight forward thrash of “Wide Black Eyes” and “Young Lovers, Old Livers”, or the epic nature of “Nowhere to Go”, it’s poignant and there’s no stopping it.
If the tracks “You Don’t Need Me” and “I Don’t Need You” weren’t enough to tell you the lyrical theme of this record, just know that Tyler Densley will pull negativity out of you, even if it isn’t there. And by no means is this a bad thing, having the ability to illicit that kind of an emotional response from someone is sheer genius. Don’t try to take it in all at once, it may be hazardous to your heath. You saw what this level of negative thought did in Ghostbusters. But if you’re looking for the next hardcore album you should own, look no further, it’s right here.
Track Listing:1. Know Where To Go
2. Wide Black Eyes
3. Nightcrawlers
4. You Don’t Need Me
5. I Don’t Need You
6. Who Knew The West Coast Could Be So Cold
7. Penmanship Sailed
8. Young Lovers, Old Livers
9. Rot Gut Charlie
10. My Father Was A Locomotive
11. Nowhere To Go
