The State Lottery, "When the Night Comes."
by Craig Smith
(download)
Whew, this is a great little album, but its internet presence is nearly non-existent. It came out two months ago and I can only find one review of it, at the great 75 or Less. From what I can gather, the State Lottery is sort of a super group of not-very-well-known punk bands-- members of Get Bent, The Gibbons, Thousandaires, Kudrow, Traffic & Weather are involved, and of that set I've only heard of the Thousandaires.
But together they've put together an early-Springsteenesque revved up rock album that is remarkably consistent, urgent and fun. Like Titus Andronicus, the Gaslight Anthem and the Constantines, they've stripped Springsteen down to the core and play tight, emotional rock 'n' roll, although the State Lottery also occasionally adds saxophone flourishes to heighten the effect. Titus is probably the most apt comparison here; if you like those guys (and how couldn't you?) you'll also be into When the Night Comes.
Download the album for free at the band's If You Make It page by clicking on the art below. The download link might be a bit hard to see, it's on the right-hand side of the site underneath the album cover. And this is a vinyl-only release, they want you to download the mp3s for free, so don't feel that usual pang of guilt as you grab it.
