Groove Art Feature
Letters From Mars
Crash EP
From the fuzzy opening riff of “Crash Out”, the new EP from NC (or is it Mars?) based Letters From Mars is addictive, smile-inducing, groovy, fun, and powerful. There are flashes - wisps really - of a whole range of familiar influences in each of these songs.
For “Crash Out” there’s the lazy comparison to Foo Fighters, a deeper layer where you can hear the grunge greats peeking through, and a sensibility that could’ve come from any number of 90s alt-rock-radio giants.
But this EP is remarkable for how efficiently it displays a range of stylistic sandboxes in which LFM is comfortable playing. And through it all, an undeniable personality and simplicity that ties this project together beautifully.
LFM maintains a studied artistic approach to the work, maintaining anonymity, framing each of the releases as a new “letter” from the past 10 years.
are meant to understand that this project is the unloading of years of artistic output and rumination, a truly epic clearing of the throat, if you will. And it’s off to a really enticing start.
“Reckless Love” in the number two slot doesn’t switch stations, or decades, but it’s still a departure from the crunchy rock of “Crash Out”. A plaintive, poppy, deeply groovy, and compact number that feels like a flashback to what came before the aforementioned Crash, this track will have you swaying in your seat and remembering the days when you’d hear Weezer and No Doubt on the radio and the world just felt… gentler.
“All For You” keeps the banger train rolling, and here is the first moment on this collection where we step into a sound that’s decidedly more modern-day.
Before you get to the chorus, it’s got all the hallmarks of the more commercial end of indie pop-rock from the last 15 years, and then suddenly a twangy slide guitar enters the mix and yanks us sideways, at once subtle and yet undeniable, into a totally original vibe. It’s as catchy as all the rest, and here is where you’ll start to wonder if every track is going to be a new stylistic curveball.
“Stay Safe” does not disappoint. Another devastatingly effective, simple motif. Another tight groove, the bass elastic and sticky. The lyric that might become part of your regular roster of exclamations - “When was the last time you saw a butterfly fly by? Hardly ever happens in my life, but I see cockroaches all the time!”
This track has elements of gothic rock, modern indie rock, and glam rock (there are moments where things feel not too far from where Bon Jovi was heading around the time of “It’s My Life”). It’s also the first song that isn’t a relationship story or a love song. Tantalizing hints that some of the Letters to come may be more topical or urgent. In any case, it’s hypnotic and quirky and compelling.
We wrap it up with “HEART BREAKER” which opens with a nasty, undeniably classic grunge feel and then slips effortlessly into something more dance-able, like Presidents of the United States of America remixed for a strip club. Throughout, it feels like something that was missing from the 90s landscape, irrepressibly part of that vibe but too stubborn to fit into any of the boxes on offer. This song just rocks.
Letters From Mars is, above all else, a hell of a fun listen, and not just because it’s the first time I’ve heard anyone use “dag-nabbit” in a lyric. There’s a character to the vocals that’s unique and endearing, both in the lyrical approach and the delivery, and every one of these songs is memorable and punchy enough to be the lead single on its own album. Terrific work from a really exciting new artist.
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