Album Reviews

Charlotte’s Late Bloomer is made up of Lunchbox Records proprietor Scott Wishart, Self Aware Records label owner Josh Robbins and Neil Mauney, who as far as I know is not working for a label. Together the three of them weave their way through punk, hardcore, garage, shoegaze and grunge on “Things Change” with lots of fuzzed out guitars and feedback a la Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth while throwing in more grungy riffs just as well.

At the same time though these guys like to fool around with post-hardcore dynamics, which adds yet another layer to the band’s sound. But they are also content to gaze at their navel from time to time as they head off for shoegaze territory. It makes “Things Change” an album where a lot is going on, not in the least because all three of them take turns behind the mic, yet they manage to tie it all together nicely for 38 minutes with some sweet hooks to boot.