The Loved Ones show off their fourth release

I always have a special place in my heart for The Loved Ones.  I don't know if it's because they're from Philly (I'm from South Jersey) or their music, but either way I was excited to see that they released an EP, Distractions, earlier this month.  It features three original songs and three covers of songs by Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg and Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.

The original songs sound like a branch off of their previous album, Build & Burn.  They stay true to the sound that so many of their fans love about them.  They are very cohesive.  True, that seems easy to do with only three songs, but there is probably a band out there that can manage to screw that up.

"Distracted" is a great song both lyrically and musically.  The song is about a girl missing opportunities because of bad situations, but comes out in the end realizing what she needs to do.  Dave Hause's vocals and guitar playing fit the song.  The band as a whole works together well and complement each member's talents.

"Last Call" starts off solemnly but eventually picks up.  It sounds somewhat similar to the previous song with some piano mixed in.   The Loved Ones know how to keep a listener interested by switching up things throughout the duration of the song, which can be shown with this song.

The last original song, "Spy Diddley," might be the most energetic song and the song that resembles an old song of theirs.  The raspy pseudo-screams from Hause and the fast music make it a classic Loved Ones song.

The cover-portion of the EP opens up with The Boss' song "Johnny 99."  The more I listened to this song, the more I realized that Hause's vocals sound like a punk-version of Springsteen's voice.  Needless to say, it was a successful cover.

The other two covers work out well, too, especially since they work well with Hause's vocals.  The music can sometimes be easy to duplicate or at least make it your own without destroying it, but in the end, I think the vocals make it all and that's what happened here.

I really liked Distractions as a whole.  It's short, as all EPs are, but it gives a nice selection of songs for over 15 minutes.  They stay true to their original sound as well as giving their twist on covers by well-known musicians and bands.