The Limiters: “Somewhere In Between” – filled with creativity, nuance and passion
Based in the Netherlands, The Limiters are a hard hitting rock band. Their first single, “Short Term Memory”, was released in 2018 and made an immediate impact. The band quickly followed that up with “Wrote You a Song”, which showcases the powerful singing of front-man Lesley Warendorff. Now the band – also comprising Benjamin Lampe on drums and Josine van der Splinter on bass – has released its debut EP, “Somewhere In Between”, while they prepare to hit the stage, where they have earned a reputation for excellent live shows. As background, I’m a huge fan of rock from the early days, and it’s been hard to find a modern rock album that I find interesting. But this EP is incredible.
It’s filled with creativity, nuance, passion, and just plain great all-round singing and playing. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s rare to hear rock music these days that has so much going on in it. Especially considering this is a three-piece unit.
The Limiters sound like a triad of musical giants with the force of two generations of rock n’ roll embedded into their souls. What can you expect from a lineup such as this? Well, at times they sound like Queens of the Stone Age, at others, they sound like the Kings of Leon, but mostly they sound like…The Limiters. In essence, and in truth, they have the intrinsic qualities of the aforementioned collectives, but abstain from mimicking any of them.
It’s needless to say that there’s a considerable amount of thunder on this record, powered by Lampe’s confident beating and Warendorff’s grungy channeling of the six-string, while simultaneously van der Splinter sprinkles some of her very own rumbling basslines on top.
They deliver this explosive formula right out of the box, with the opener, “Short Term Memory”. Warendorff’s angst filled grunts and growls adds the final touches to a sludgy, emotion-filled opening to the EP.
Things quickly switch into overdrive on the title track, “Somewhere in Between”. The trio cooks up a blend of demonically sly licks, heavy-pedal momentum pushing drums, and bass lines that exude wholesome energy, for a titanic high-speed mega-rock jam.
Warendorff’s vocals soar over the soundscape to put an urgent perspective into the mix. “Wrote You a Song”, is your classic, atmospheric and heartfelt, mid-tempo ballad. It also provides more than three and a half minutes to hear Warendorff’s vocals dip and soar, slither and sustain, changing character from verse to chorus and back. A sublime performance indeed.
“Revenge” ups the ante again, with an insistent beat, a down and dirty guitar solo, and some catchy vocal hooks. The track settles into a syncopated, driving rock groove before blossoming into an earworm chorus. The biggest pleasure of the track is hearing three supremely gifted players fall together so easily and effortlessly.
Warendorff’s smooth vocalizing and quirky, stoner guitar hooks, hog the space on “I Should Have Known” – a compact and hypnotic arrangement with plenty of juicy ear-candy frills and a brooding undercurrent. All in all, The Limiters have crafted a very impressive debut EP. You can hear the enjoyment these three are having, playing together, at every turn, and it makes you realize how rare that actually is.
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