Lions in the Street - Moving Along (Cargo)

Way back in 2006 or so, guitarist Michael Leigh, late of the Lazy Cowgirls, tipped me off to a band coming to my city of Austin. He insisted that I go see Vancouver quartet Lions in the Street, even though I’d never heard of them, and it was an early weeknight. (Sunday? Monday? I can’t remember now.) He was so enthusiastic about them, and was so sure that I’d dig ‘em because I was a Cowgirls fan, that I decided to roll the dice and check ‘em out.

They were playing the Hole in the Wall, a tiny but beloved club that usually featured local acts, but did open the stage to the occasional out-of-towner. I remember that there was hardly anybody there – it’s been too long for me to be able to guess the number of people, but I’d put it at under ten. That didn’t stop the band from blasting away like it was a full house, spitting out memorable tunes in the Stones/Faces/pre-jamband Black Crowes vein. Derivative? Maybe. But the band put everything they had into their catchy, well-written songs, playing a classic rock & roll style like they invented it and couldn’t wait to show it off. I was energized and mesmerized.

Afterward, I purchased their self-released EP Cat Got Your Tongue and chatted with singer/guitarist Chris Kinnon. We kept in touch so I could track LITS’ movements, which were sporadic but determined: a couple of lost albums recorded for big labels, appearances at SXSW that resulted in press acclaim but no industry discovery, self-released albums leading up to 2013’s_On the Lam_ EP on legendary British producer and Blue Horizon founder Sandy Roberton’s then-new Beverly Martel label. But years of struggle and impinging adulthood led LITS to throw in the towel. Leader Kinnon went back to school, attained a law degree, became a parent, and survived cancer. Now he’s brought both LITS and their music back from hibernation.

I could explain to you how Moving Along contains remixed versions of songs from prior releases – three songs from Cat, two from Lam, almost all of a self-titled 2009 CD in a cardboard sleeve that’s long been one of the gems of my collection. But it wouldn’t matter to you, as it’s highly unlikely you’ve heard any of these songs anyway. Besides, even though the tracks are fifteen years old, they still sound as fresh as they did back then. Fiery guitars with plenty of slide, brash vocals that sound as musical as they do defiant, tunes that bleed hooks, and that distinctive groove, part R&B and part proto-punk – it’s all there, coming off as crisp and sparkling as the early sessions for Sticky Fingers or A Nod is As Good as a Wink. The rockers (“Already Gone,” “Mine Ain’t Yours,” “Gold Pour Down,” the title track) blaze like a brushfire in a Southwest summer, the ballads (“Lady Blue,” the countrified “Truer Now”) ooze soul and feeling, and the players put more conviction into every note than a Texas judge with a marijuana case. Hardly anyone plays this old-school rock as well as this anymore – arguably not even the Stones themselves.

“It’s hard for a rock & roll band,” Kinnon sings on the nuclear-powered “Shangri-La,” perhaps LITS’ ultimate statement. A cursory listen to the radio or glance at the top 100 charts makes that pretty clear. But Lions in the Street make it sound easy on Moving Along, and now they have a chance to recruit new generations of true believers.