THE LOVE LANGUAGE is a lo-fi Indie Pop band from Raleigh, NC whose debut self titled release is the story of one man’s redemption.  The result sounds like a Phil Spector recording employing the reverb of the Walkman and the aesthetic of the early 90’s lo fi movement, ala Guided By Voices and Sebadoh.  The Love Language is a one man album. Everything you hear on the record was written, performed, recorded, and mixed by Stu McLamb.   

Two years ago Stu played in a band called The Capulets with 3 members of what would later become THE LOVE LANGUAGE live band.  Stu got drunk one night, broke into the Capulets practice space, trashed the joint, and broke his wrist in the process.  The band booed Stu’s antics and showed him the door.  Stu then moved to Winston Salem with the “Lalita.”  “I had moved in with a girl I thought was the love of my life but felt absolutely miserable,” reflects McLamb, adding “We had unhealthy tendencies like throwing beer bottles at the wall when we fought.” 

 

Fast forward 6 months.  The walls are covered in beer bottle glass and the couple finally decides to call it quits.  Stu celebrated the culmination of festering misery by pounding a fifth of Aristocrat and woke up in solitary confinement with his ankles and wrists bound.

 

Shocked by the shit you can land yourself in McLamb, moved in with his parents, lays off the drink, and worked hard at a local hotel.  As he sobered, the songs started appearing.  He rented a storage space, bought a cheap-ass bass, borrowed some drums and started recording the album - 4 track style.  “I'd like to think of it as the audio equivalent of a handwritten letter to a pen pal with little handmade gifts inside...or something like that,” says Stu of the recordings. 

 

When the songs became solid he passed around a CD to friends. Eventually the music caught the ears of The Rosebuds (Merge Records) and THE LOVE LANGUAGE was asked to open a show for them to kick of their fall tour.  To this McLamb wistfully replied with a simple "Yes" and quickly formed a band with 6 of his closest friends who could lend a hand to present the songs in an energetic live setting that nicely juxtaposes the home recordings. THE LOVE LANGUAGE is Stuart McLamb (electric guitar, vocals), Jordan McLamb (acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals), Junis Beefmonth (electric guitar, vocals), Missy Thangs  (keyboard, vocals), Joshua Pope (bass guitar), Kate Thompson (organ) and Thomas Simpson (drum kit).

 

Word spread fast around THE LOVE LANGUAGE’S home state and the music quickly caught the ear of Bladen County Records, who will release the band’s self-titled long-player and Ground Kontrol Touring, who will have the band on the road throughout ’09 and beyond!  

 

Stuart McLamb crafts delightfully moving pop-rock songs that feel like they've existed forever." - The Daily Tarheel

 

"The Love Language sounds like soul and pop wax melting into one LP on a Califone turntable. Recommended jams." - Independent Weekly

 

"Perhaps I'm being selfish, but I listen to the Love Language because they write music I wish I'd written. I often picture myself playing these songs for some awkwardly shy, yet strikingly beautiful French girl on a jetty in Quebec, romantically duping her with my plagiarized sentiments. Dishonest, yet undeniably feasible." - Wax Poetics

 

"The Love Language (are) focusing on crafting lo-fi pop treasures that sound as though they could have come from any era - and would have sounded just as exciting." - The Daily Tarheel

 

"And what can I say about The Love Language? These guys just truly rock, and have generated more excitement than any other local band has in the past three years, maybe more" - Wilmington Star News

 

"The Love Language is perfect for anyone looking for something new and innovative, yet possessing a classic '60s pop rock feel to reminisce with the "peace & love" era. I'm feeling a light, blended smoothie of the Strokes (rhythm and tone), a dash of the Magnetic Fields and a heavy serving of the Walkmen - but more oomph. With the percussion-meddling beats mixed with keyboards, guitars, pianos and tambourine, I think it's relatively obvious (and fortunate) that McLamb was really into exploring bands like the Beatles and the Kinks, along with some Motown, classic girl groups and other soul records during the recording of his record." - Yes Weekly

 

"...smooth hybridization of 1950s big beat and indie flare." - Willamette Week