Pity the poor Minnesotan with a busted heart. On These Liquid Lungs Cadillac Blindside a recently-defunct quartet of nth-generation Jawbreaker clones not only wear their hearts on their sleeves, they also safety-pin their set lists, lyric sheets, and high school diaries to their frayed cardigans. With awkward turns-of-phrase like "It's cold inside my heart/Cold, dark and crazy/Sweater weather for you/And a straightjacket for me," the songs come across as overly-plaintive pleas for lost or at least temporarily misplaced love. So she dumped you in the hallway between English and Algebra; get over it. These Liquid Lungs, their final disc, is rescued slightly by the chunky melodies and Rubbermaid-tight production, but occasionally drifts away from the typical midwest "emo-core" and edges dangerously close to modern rock territory. "Save Your Breath," with its reverbed vocals and needless cello accentuation wouldn't sound out of place on the "Home of The Hits" radio station in your local market. Bassist Trenton Raygor claims that the band split after a particularly bumpy plane landing at Chicago's O'Hare airport. It's certainly not the most rock 'n' roll of reasons (may I suggest knife fights, drug overdoses, or finding God for your future endeavors?), but I guess when you're still lamenting the loss of your high school sweetheart, you never know what it's gonna take to put things into perspective. RECOMMENDED TRACKS: "Welders Of The Poison Pen", "Empty Bottle Evenings"

By Russell Gragg
Dec 17, 2002