Get This Right Zine- Dave Heck
Lighten Up! – I’d Rather Be Snoring 7” (BRDR002)
I reviewed 2 of Brain Drain records’ other releases in the last issue of GTR, and I enjoyed both of them. Here comes yet another Philly band that Brain Drain has put out…Lighten Up.
I have to admit that I had never heard these guys before I got this record. I had heard the name thrown around but for one reason or another, I never got around to checking them out. After giving this 7” a good couple of listens, I am kicking myself for sleeping on them.

Razorcake – Sarah Shay

Listening to Lighten Up is a little like listening to a Lifter Puller 33 on 45. These Philadelphia punks are loud and fast, with just enough snotty attitude to give it a little swagger that is well-deserved and not at all posturing. I can’t wait for the full-length!

Punknews.org – Brian
Lighten Up! impressed me the most out of all the unknowns at a certain Philadelphia-based fest last year, and while their 7” doesn’t quite stack up, it’s still a promising effort from the Philly-based quartet.

Not quite full-on `80s revivalism, nor straight-ahead youth crew, Lighten Up! carry a somewhat unique hardcore sound on I’d Rather Be Snoring. At times we’re reminded of Career Suicide’s raw blast, other times the unbridled energy and upbeat flavor of early Gorilla Biscuits, a sure influence; somewhat often it’s a sound structured with some traditional youth crew elements: raspy vocals and fast tempos served up in a tender, callow coating.

I’d Rather Be Snoring runs its course in under 10 minutes, but not before offering some rather blunt declarations. Take “Tired”: “I’m sick of having no clue / I’m tired of life / but most of all / I’m tired of you.” Hm, yeah, it certainly wouldn’t hurt Lighten Up! to flex their lyrical muscle here and there, but in choosing not to, they at least manage to intentionally channel the most basic dicitional tendencies of the last fifteen years of hardcore revivalism…which is good or bad depending on how you see it.

In any case, I’d Rather Be Snoring is definitely worth a listen, and being that it was recorded nearly two years ago, we’ll hopefully get a progression from the band to something really swell on their next batch of new material.