Little Lungs - Hoist Me Up

This was one of my favorite records of 2008. The first time I heard it I was on Halo Fauna tour and I instantly fell in love with Little Lungs. Download this record in preparation for their reunion this Friday (3/30/2012) w/ Noun, Swearin' and These Days. The show is a benefit for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It's at Death By Audio. Click here for more information!

In 2007, I was in a band called Cheeky with 3 friends. Angela Boylan was our drummer. She was (and is) my favorite drummer to play with, but Angie had sort of secretly been writing songs on guitar on her own for years. She had a stockpile of songs she was waiting to play with a band. Not long after I learned of Angie's secret songs, Little Lungs started practicing. Aside from being our sister/brother band, Little Lungs were some of my closest friends. So I was really excited for it. I fell in love with the songs while seeing them live, the driving "Pet Cemetery" was my favorite. I still can't help but sing and drum along to every part when I hear it. I was floored when I heard Jacki Sulley's bass parts. They were completely complimentary to Angie's songwriting. Between the three of them, with Josh Wolpert on drums, Little Lungs nailed it. "Hoist Me Up" is a bunch of lovable, poppy songs. It's pretty straightforward, but Angie gets really noodly and Jacki does too. The songs are about relationships, presumably, anyone can relate to them. During a time when most of my friends were in hardcore bands or pop-punk bands, Little Lungs brought back a sound that evoked my favorite parts of the Get Up Kids, the Weakerthans, and even Jimmy Eat World. All bands I had screamed along to with Angie in her basement bedroom.Kate Wadkins