Longings Dreams in Red LP
It’s been seven years since LONGINGS from Western Massachusetts have released material. Obviously, a bunch of shit has happened and the world is in a darker and more dire position, and all of this is very reflective in Dreams in Red. Opening with the raging, darkened post-punk of “Expensive Graves,” this album only builds into a level of aggression that begins to two-step a fine line between post-punk, hardcore, and post-hardcore. By the midpoint of the album, the squelching, squeals, and general noise level rips through desperately angry songs with earworm lyrical accuracy that will run endlessly in your mind for hours like mini protest chants. There’s a heaviness to this album that is only attained by staring into the decaying void of our present reality and refusing to descend further into it by shouting, screaming, and fighting.