The Lives Of Famous Men show on their latest single, "No Alarm," that they’ve lost none of their urgency or edge either. The song has you hooked from its opening driving beat, cataloging political blunders and environmental disasters with a smarts that’s part satire and part heartbreak.
LoFM, based in Los Angeles by way of Alaska, has long been skilled at making big-tent musical influences sound very much like themselves. On "No Alarm," that skill is employed in full measure, the band’s sound is instantly familiar while evolving before our ears, a perfect mechanism through which to deliver the song’s urgent message. The production is alive, nervous, and propulsive, pushing listeners to the next step, even as the lyrics demand contemplation.
There’s an unusual mix here. If the song unambiguously indicts modern ills, it does so with the band’s usual sly sense of humor, never preachy, but always compelling. It’s a reminder that The Lives of Famous Men have had a finger in the cultural pie for close to two decades now, and they’ve still got the chops to make it sing.
"No Alarm" is a remarkably confident statement. In LoFM’s case, they’re not only relevant, they’re vital. No matter whether you have listened to them since their inception or are only hearing them now, this song grabs hold, literally grabbing your ears as well as twisting your conscience.