I really had no thoughts or expectations about what LUCKLESS was all about when I was preparing to listen to this cassette. Very unassuming, minimalist artwork surrounding a four-song cassette, labeled with a label maker. LUCKLESS is a four-piece band from Toronto, ON comprised of guitar, bass, drums, and synth. Vocal duties are shared between the guitarist and bassist. Sonically they are some sort of amalgamation of emotional hardcore and aggressive indie-rock. The simplistic synth lines add a layer to the songs, but it’s the moments that sound like Dischord Records’ Revolution Summer stuff that really hook you. This comes through in the vocal delivery on the opening track, “The Farm,” which reeled me right in and kept me searching for more aspects of that throughout the cassette. Similar inflection creeps up again on the final song, “Woo.”
These are the better songs on this debut cassette, surrounding two shorter tracks that have a bit of a goofier feel to them. Those tracks have barked, repetitive vocals that are more aggressive than emotional. Strange that I prefer the emotion filled songs on a cassette, but LUCKLESS seems to have more luck in that field than in a more frantic one.

Label: self-released
Band: LUCKLESS