LOOK MEXICO "Gasp Asp" (Lujo) Review by Corey Schmidt
During one of the four news songs on Gasp Asp, LOOK MEXICO vocalist Matt Agrella sings, "Our chins are stubbled and our egos worn." This one statement pretty much lets the world know that Agrella and his bandmates are no longer the young guns on the scene. After spending more than a year on the road supporting their debut full-length, This Is Animal Music, the fellas in LOOK MEXICO are definite veterans. And the best part of it all is they didn't earn this distinction by doing a tour here and a tour there in lavish venues; instead, they did it playing small venues to 10 person audiences across the country. While they may not have as extensive a fanbase as some of the bands they came up with, they no doubt justified the fact that they are as legitimate a band as a true music fan could desire.
As relatively new veterans, LOOK MEXICO display on this new EP that they're ready to continue to grow beyond the simple and loose songwriting that fans have become accustomed to on prior releases. The EP eases listeners into the new sound with "You're Not Afraid Of The Dark Are You?" This is perhaps as close as LOOK MEXICO gets to Animal Music territory on Gasp. The song has that same warm feeling as past songs, but the instrumentation is more involved. Drummer Joshua Mikel propels things with what is becoming his signature drumming style, but it is the guitars that really make the largest impact. Where in the past LOOK MEXICO might have done more noodling and twinkling here and there, here the chords are fuller yet still complex enough to satisfy the AMERICAN FOOTBALL fan. Moving forward, "Don't You Dare" is about as poppy a song as the guys have written yet, and it works impeccably! "I'm Not Guilty, But I'm Used To It" is a slower song with yet another great performance from Mikel. He provides a solid, repetitious drum pattern that nicely dovetails the minimalist picking. The most interesting song of the bunch is "A Survivors Code. My Code." Here, the mix of a very different kind of guitar tone and some sound manipulation creates a vibe not unlike something INCUBUS would do in a song of their own.
Set to be released on vinyl soon, the only downside of this release is that it is otherwise only available digitally. Therefore, the only way to get a physical look at the artwork is to get the vinyl. Other than this, Gasp Asp provides listeners with some quality content that points to LOOK MEXICO's continued evolution.
