Loser Life comes from a place called Bakersfield, California, an area the band has numerously described as "the armpit of California." This is what Loser Life is influenced by, and the band's sound makes their pleasant description seem all too realistic. Loser Life is dirty, grimy, filthy, and fucking pissed off at their little hole in the world, and the world in general. They play music with a glass half-empty feeling with a glass overflowing the brim spirit. Loser Life certainly does have ghosts, but at least they have no problems releasing their demons.
I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts is Loser Life's most accessible release after a slew of cassette and seven inch releases, most of which are out of print. Magic Bullet took notice, and the result is an eight-song release of unbridled anger and frustration thrown together and mixed with a few hits of speed.
I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts certainly doesn't start off slowly, but the album does progressively get better. "Bakersfield" is the first song off of the album, and with opening lyrics of, "I hate this place and everything," there is no secret as to what kind of state of mind Loser Life is in. The song clocks in at barely over a minute, and is filled with feedback and a fast bass line. The next song, "Cashing In," is the first example of the both the band's frustration and a catchy undertone, as both vocalists viciously state, "I regret this world," over and over.
Loser Life has two vocalists, but their sounds are completely different, and they both have the ability to take over a song. On one hand side of the spectrum, you have a singer that is hoarse and jagged, with a guttural yell that never gets out of hand. On the other hand, you have a vocalist with a high pitched, snotty as shit and fast as fuck voice that absolutely blisters through the songs. Alone their voices are effective, combined they are lethal, screaming through red lights and killing any pedestrians in their path.
While the music may be made by four punks from California, there are different influences throughout I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts. Perhaps the best songs on the album, "Forget My Name" starts of with feedback and a few bass riffs before turning into an all out shitstorm, with vocals that speed past the music without ever looking back. The song has a distinct eighties D.C. hardcore sound to it, as if Minor Threat were a bit older and Ian's voice was faster. The album has it's discordant and jangly sections, never evoking any thoughts of anything less than a hardcore punk band, but rather a hardcore punk band that is able to switch things up a bit. Whether it's the riffs in "I Have Ghosts" or the slow strumming at the beginning of "Fake Life" countered with the song's drumming assault, Loser Life does not restrict their frustration, but rather they release it with more than one outlet.
Loser Life's eight-song release of anger and aggression is nothing groundbreaking, but it's still eight good songs of pissed off hardcore punk. We all have ghosts; at least Loser Life has come to accept that fact and fucking deal with them.
