Lock and Key

Pull Up the Floorboards (Deep Elm)
by Jessica Parker

Pull Up the Floorboards entices from the first note. Lock And Key invites you to start pumping your fist within seconds. But the guitars slow down after half a minute into “Alchemy” and Ryan Shanahan’s angst-ridden vocals take over. Shanahan’s voice is pained, and with good reason. He laments about love and loss (“Albatross”), unrequited love (“Cover the Tracks”), and the risks of ambition (practically every other song). This evidence points to emo. Although Lock And Key’s music may be passionate, their heart pounding instrumentalism keeps it hardcore. Even without witnessing the band play live, you can tell they’re intense about these songs. Shanahan’s vocals are intense to a different degree, but the real star here is the talented and brutal musicianship behind the sad lyrics.
(www.deepelm.com)