Richard Lloyd - The Countdown (2018) [Official Digital Download]

Lloyd's trademark fusion of garage rock crunch, irresistible power pop hooks and metaphysical soul is apparent from the opening riff of the album's inaugural rocker "Wind in the Rain." - In his recent memoir, Everything is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll, guitarist-singersongwriter Richard Lloyd recalls his thoughts the first time he saw Tom Verlaine play in a New York nightclub. “This guy has something special but he is missing something,” Lloyd writes. “What he is missing I have… and what I am missing, he has.” That keen sense of observation and self-awareness of the required elements for great rock’n’roll soon led to the formation of the groundbreaking band Television, and that same insight has been a hallmark of Lloyd’s musical career. It can be found in his incredibly influential guitar work with Television, his work supplying perfect power pop guitar leads for Matthew Sweet, and his stellar work on his solo albums throughout his career, to the grooves of his new album, The Countdown, available on Plowboy Records November 2nd. Two of Lloyd’s paintings were used as the visual foundation for the front and back covers for the vinyl and CD packaging of The Countdown. Inside the covers, Lloyd’s trademark fusion of garage rock crunch, irresistible power pop hooks and metaphysical soul is apparent from the opening riff of the album’s inaugural rocker, “Wind in the Rain.” The electric guitar driven meditation on the loneliness of unrequited love kicks off a mini-trilogy of tunes reflecting on the ethereal nature of romance — a theme winding its way through the wistful melancholy of “Smoke” and “So Sad.” The “rawk” returns with force as Lloyd cranks it up for three crunchy guitar rockers. The big beat jam of “Run,” the catchy power pop hook of “Whisper,” and the grungy garage beat of “I Can Tell,” amply demonstrate the excitement, groove, and power of Lloyd’s guitar mastery. After the rock’n’roll workout, Lloyd slows things down a bit for a trio of touching and tender rock ballads, leading with “Just My Heart” and then delivering a yearning reflections of youthful romance and lost love with “Something Remains”. As the end of the album approaches, Lloyd returns to the school of crunch with the raucous rock’n’roll roar of “Down the Drain” and brings down the curtain with the spinning, metaphysical wheels within wheels cosmic guitar journey of “Countdown.”

Tracklist:
1. Wind in the Rain 03:36
2. Smoke 03:15
3. So Sad 04:52
4. Run 02:52
5. Whisper 03:09
6. I Can Tell 03:32
7. Just My Heart 03:42
8. Something Remains 04:36
9. Down the Drain 03:43
10. Countdown 05:41