Lions In The Street

“What the Stones were, what the Dandy Warhols should’ve been.”
--Magnet Magazine

When you get kicked in the balls, you have two choices: double over and cry, or force a lying smile and tell the motherfucker, “You missed”. After a rough experience with a large US label—one that involved recording an (unfinished) “lost record” in Los Angeles, and being pursued by legendary producers like Todd Rundgren and Bob Ezrin—Lions In The Street are here to say, “You missed”. Following an 18 month goose-chase, L.I.T.S. decided they’d had enough: they hired a great lawyer, and retreated to a damp Vancouver basement, where they wrote some of the most authentic rock AND roll songs in decades, then recorded a near-perfect basement album. Seriously broke, post label debacle, they recorded their new material using the only piece of recording equipment available to them: a cheap 8-track unit and some half-broken microphones. In this case, primitive recording techniques were the perfect complement to gut-bucket rock and roll.

The band’s determination and resilience, in the face of struggle and disappointment, is apparent in Faces/Stones-inspired romps like “Already Gone”, “Mine Ain’t Yours”, and “You’re Gonna Lose”. The personal cost of their ordeal—broken and strained relationships—is chronicled in ballads like “Lady Blue” and “Feels Like A Long Time”.

However, the man can’t keep a good longhair down. And L.I.T.S. are not ones to feel sorry for themselves. They’re giving their music directly to the people, for free: In the spirit of DIY, they’re releasing their Cat Got Your Tongue EP on May 20th, via free download. It will be available on their website (www.lionsinthestreet.com), and on your favorite peer-to-peer site. They’ve also made homemade videos included on the EP: two of them are up on their official website, their MySpace site (www.myspace.com/lionsinthestreet), YouTube.com, and PTP.

Due to demand for rock that rolls, L.I.T.S. are embarking on their first US tour this summer. So far they’ve played with Jet, Kings of Leon, Ambulance LTD, The Dirtbombs, The Pony’s, The Zutons, and Robbers on High Street, and a bunch of others. Look for them in your city soon, and for their songs and videos online. It’s your chance to side with art against commerce, with good against evil, with the little guy against the big guy, and with rock and roll against everything else. EP release will be in Vancouver, at the Lamplighter, on May 20th.

Lions In The Street are managed by veteran music manager Allen Kovac (Motley Crue, The Bee Gees, Blondie). Recently, they’ve been featured on the Fader Magazine’s influential “Tripwire Push Upstairs” Podcast. They’ve played CMJ in NYC, and won high praise from Magnet Magazine.