Band:	Lunacy Box
Album:	Lunacy Box
Style:	Gothic rock
Release date:	June 02, 2009
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Wrong Lane
02. Save
03. Love To Hate Me
04. Broken Dreams
05. Nice shot Prelude
06. Hey Man, Nice Shot [Filter cover]
07. No Turning Back
08. I Think I'm Done
09. Hide
10. More Than I Do

Not every melancholic rock band with female vocals is automatically goth. This is also true for Lunacy Box, regardless what their MySpace profile might claim. This is not goth, or at least it's about as goth as Kidneythieves, which is coincidentally the band that Lunacy Box sounds closest to. In other words, what we are dealing with here is emotional industrial rock like Filter or Stabbing Westward albeit with a female singer.

Thankfully, besides this blatant misinterpretation of their style, there is not much else to complain about regarding the band's eponymous debut. This kind of music used to be quite popular a good 15 years ago and since by now most of its purveyors have eroded into mediocrity or obscurity, Lunacy Box sounds reasonably fresh and honest. Most importantly, it seems that the band knows how to capitalize on their abilities while avoiding musical areas that might be uncomfortable for them. The vocals, performed by one Ms. Larsen, are neither forced nor overwrought, without unnecessary operatic indulgences that are ever so popular nowadays. The same is generally true for the rest of the band, where there is a sense of frugality that allows for the music to escape from the dreaded emo tag in favor of simply being honestly and appropriately melancholic. Some excellent Paradise Lost-style leads in songs like "I Think I'm Done" and "Save" complete the puzzle. Meanwhile, tracks like "Love To Hate Me", "No Turning Back" and the very well realized Filter cover rely on catchy, powerfully sung refrains.

Lunacy Box is an album that moves slowly and achieves the appropriate mood of melancholic discontent with tools that one would imagine an actual depressed person would use. It is brooding, forlorn and cynical but never whiny, kitschy or shallow. Naturally, these very qualities might make it boring as hell to a lot of people. Well, if you're one of them - stay clear. Otherwise, I'd say Lunacy Box is a band that is worth checking out.