Reviews

New Gainesville Sun Review!

Peaceful May Day Riot

By KYLE MITCHELL, Gainesville Sun April 26, 2007

Take the legal, the moral, the nutritional and all the other rules most try to abide by every day, and you'll probably find that they outnumber the people who are supposed to follow them.

So if I just break one, it won't hurt.

In the news business, it's generally frowned upon to tell people what they already know - which explains the lack of "man lands on moon" headlines these days. But since I'm such a rebel, I'll do it anyway and say this: Lars Din is just really, really good.

On Saturday he, his band the Song Riot, along with The Ones to Blame and The Deep & Holy Sea, are going to be over at Common Grounds. What you may not have known, and, if not, it's probably news to you, is that Lars is also releasing his first full album in three years, "Freedom's Nightmare."

From the first track, you get a sense of being in the life-altering epiphanic scene of a Tarantino movie, and it's not just the Southwestern-style trumpet sounds wrapped around the lyric's cadence that does it.

Like Quentin, Lars Din Song Riot comes across as entirely American. Listening is a comfortable and familiar experience, despite all the twists and turns. That's not an insult to their anarcho ways. Rather, it's a credit to them.

Both with a band and without, the music seems to be the product of people who've actually experienced the nitty-gritty of life in this land. These are no inexplicably angry suburbanites in a New York studio singing about tough times. Lars has written the world over, including many American cities, producing ideas and songs along the way.

The result is a street-corner sound that can be both identified with, and given, the highest level of respect.

The Song Riot's quality isn't strictly limited to their style.

All music is technically poetry, on a basic level. But there's a reason that every 14-year-old with a notebook and a heartbreak doesn't have their own section at the bookstore. Words are only as good as their ability to convey an idea that people can understand. And virtually anyone, especially Floridians, can connect with these lyrics.

Besides personal messages written so artfully that they can become the listener's own thoughts, "Freedom's Nightmare" deals directly with things that are right around us.

The Santa Fe River, St. Augustine and 13th Street all make non-superficial cameos on the album. Instead of just throwing the words in there to score brownie points, something is said. Better still, the level of intelligence throughout the band allows for references to local history that most people don't even know.

Lars Din Song Riot is artful, poignant, technically impressive and smooth music. I really don't know what more to ask for.

This CD release show is part of a larger event: the 2007 May Day celebration. Now, don't cry "commie" on all of this; May Day is for workers and unions, which are decidedly capitalistic. It's also a celebration of spring and the flowers and all manner of natural things unconnected to a hammer and sickle.

What this means is that not only do you get some great bands, but there'll be a capitalist pig piñata and cake.

The string of events will run Saturday through Tuesday, with marches, meetings and many other things, culminating in the four-hour picnic event at the Downtown Community Plaza.

Be there, or be an overbearing oppressor of the common man.

Lars Din Sings For The CMC

The local talent found in Lars Din is truly felt by a distinct desire to expose the quiet, genuine nature of his songwriting. Lars possesses the coveted warm-vocal tendencies reminiscent of Richard Buckner. His subject matter deviates, however, and appropriately earns the title "quirky", in a good way. Meticulous guitar methods are used to deliver subdued county [sic] tunes, each sung with the most heartfelt emotion.


The volatility he demonstrates in both his guitar playing and vocals reveals a developed individual who has experimented with several techniques. His songs make you want to retire on a porch swing and bury yourself in the heartland of his mind. Lars often performs at the Civic Media Center, where this live recording was made.

--Lou Probes
Review of Lars Din Sings for the CMC in Detours magazine, Gainesville, FL
March 16, 2000







also see this Old Gainesville Sun Review