2006, Total Gaylord Records
This latest release from The Lil' Hospital, Heavy Metal, is, on the surface, a tad misleading; this album is far from Heavy Metal, for better or worse. No, Heavy Metal as a title is employed in a fairly obvious display of wit; The Lil' Hospital displays a very playful irony that's often lacking from music, even music of a more playful variety.
Heavy Metal is a refreshing blast of music; with elements from the infamous C86 cassette and the subsequent twee pop movement, there seems to have been more than just a casual influence on The Lil' Hospital. All the while, Heavy Metal manages to carve its own sound in the style, not simply resorting to a sort of 20-year-old stagnancy that seems to pervade large portions of music of all sorts.
It's the violin, the warm synths, the horns, and much more that really set Heavy Metal apart from their musical kin. Smooth and steady, but simultaneously unpolished and free-flowing, The Lil' Hospitals demonstrate their regard for musical form and their disregard for typicality. Heavy Metal, though not without its flaws, commands attention. The pervasive poppiness and twee that define this album are its strongest points; Heavy Metal proves to be a sort of lovely mess.