The View from the Bottom

As the cover art strongly suggests, the party isn’t anywhere near over for the Orange County anthem-rock quintet Lit. This is a band that has played straight through the morphing of post-grunge to pop-punk to emo to screamo. More importantly, The View from the Bottom is the band’s first time back in the studio following the untimely passing of drummer Allen Shellenberger. (Nathan Walker plays drums here.) Ferocious gang-vocals kickstart the opening cut, “C’mon,” a romantic and triumphant love song for young people of the long-hair-and-tattoos set. A heavy and distorted garage-rock riff introduces the following track, “You Tonight.” Here, frontman A. Jay Popoff flexes his larynx, singing impassioned verses before tearing into an explosive chorus wrought with libidinous tension and a “let’s get out of here”-themed serenade. “Same S**t, Different Drink” captures the excitement, drama, predictability, and slow death of a Southern California party, with bouncing melodies, steroidal riffs, a funny John Mellencamp reference, and even funnier self-depreciating lyrics. Vestiges of bygone Los Angelino power pop thrive in “You Did It.”