Young people suck. For the old and the jaded, there's nothing quite like a sub-30-something filled with optimism and ambition to make you miss your once-full head of hair even more. So if the punk kids just won't stay off your lawn, do whatever you can to avoid Lawrence three-piece American Low Life's self-titled EP. There's nothing polished or particularly cohesive here, but what you will find — if you can stomach it — is a raw, bright-eyed steadfastness that's admirable in spite of its own naïveté. The album's opener, "Not Even the Drowning Could Have Purer Intentions," is a stew of punk guitars and hardcore growls, while the acoustic sob job "Hope You Like the Ocean" seems to be in love with its own out-of-tune, emotional excessiveness. There's potential on this album's four tracks — let's just hope that they can do something with them before the cynicism sets in.
