Lazy Ambition – Do It Again [Review]

I spent the better part of my life in a smelly tour van or within the belly of dark bars drinking watery draft beer from an oily pint glass still tainted by the previous alcoholic lips to touch it. I spent cumulative years watching thousands of different bands rearrange chord progressions and vocal melodies in an attempt to create something special.

To elevate a song beyond its basic four-chord foundation. It’s a rare and magical moment when it happens. Lazy Ambition have all the core elements they need for elevation and they aren’t far off. The guitar down strokes in “Do It Again” are classic and the vocals are strong enough to cut through usual mediocrity that falls under the current guise of punk rock. From what I can gather via internet search engines this is from Lazy Ambition’s debut album. What I do know is they’re from Sweden and that Swedish pedigree is obvious. Comparisons to their brilliant predecessors Sator and The Hellacopters are unavoidable. I’m a sucker for power pop. I was hooked at a young age when I first heard The Buzzcocks “Harmony In My Head” and when Sator’s album “Stereo” came out in 1995 I played it to death. But it took Sator 14 years of making music to achieve the greatness of “Stereo”. Crafting the perfect power pop classic is a lifelong endeavour and rarely happens on the first try. Years ago I ran into a pre-New Pornographer Carl Newman on the street (this was back when he was playing in the seven guitar onslaught Superconductor). He had an armful of Burt Bacharach albums and when I asked him what he was doing he said, “Going home to study.” Obviously, his years of studying has paid off.

Definitely give “Do It Again” a listen. The more times I repeat this song on Spotify the more I connect to it. They’re a band I would’ve played with in one of those bars in Spokane, or Tulsa, or Winnipeg. We would’ve traded CDs and for the next few weeks it be in rotation on our tour van’s blown out sound system. I only hope that the name “Lazy Ambition” isn’t indicative of their work ethic because there is potential here for something truly great. I’m definitely interested in hearing what they release next.

Listen to their EP “Waiting For You” on Spotify