GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS: THE LION THE BEAST THE BEAT

GENRE | THE STRUM THE PSYCH THE STOMP
VERDICT | CHORD-BY-CHORD CHAMELEON
LABEL | HOLLYWOOD RECORDS
RELEASE | 6.12.12
GRACEPOTTER.COM

Unless you’re living inside the Highland Kitchen jukebox, the chances of hearing contemporary dance tracks, pop standards, country ballads and rock riffs on the same wavelength are slim.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals deliver just that—an eclectic collection of singles indefinable by genre—on The Lion The Beast The Beat, fluctuating between funkified soulsojourns and radio-ready anthems track by track.

From 00:01 to the last downbeat, Potter and her pipes of steel soar, each chorus meteoric against the pull of the powerhouse band behind her. A couple of odd sounds hit the ear (“Loneliest Soul” gets a bit too drunken-circus-in-the-Wonka factory for a sec, there), but the strongest moments of The Lion lie in a number of show-stoppers with “Never Go Back,” “One Heart Missing” and “Turntable” standing out. Typically, you can gauge what the last song of a band’s set will be after giving the album a go and picking out an undeniable single. This time around, it’s hard to differentiate between Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ most addictive ditties.