Music, Print, Reviews June 9, 2020

Album Review: A.M. Pleasure Assassins – Careless Laughter

by Laura Giagos

With their (yes) fifteenth release Careless Laughter, A.M. Pleasure Assassins remind us there’s a whole scene of bands in Northern Colorado who refuse to give a shit. They remind us that making music is supposed to be fun. It’s about putting yourself out there, because just like A.M. Pleasure Assassins, the audience also doesn’t give a shit.

Carefree and meandering, Careless Laughter is a post-punk romp through the head of band-leader Jared Meyer. Mixed and engineered by Meyer, then sent over to The Blasting Room for mastering, the EP has a tasteful finish to it that doesn’t detract from the DIY energy of the music.

Beginning with Meyer and his friend Mitch Keller in 2010, the band went through a lot of phases. “We had a rotating cast of collaborators for the first few years,” says Meyer. “Then we focused on touring, so we held a regular lineup of players for a couple years, but I’ve always kind of been the centrifuge.” 

Careless Laughter is a quick run at just sixteen minutes, but it moves well and new listeners will be attracted to the freedom of it. While Meyer is comfortable walking the awkward line between punk and post-punk, there’s a surprising amount of exploration happening. There’s even a cover of a song by fellow Fort Collins musician Bevin Luna.

Amazingly, with so many releases under their belt, not all of their music is properly out there yet. But Meyer is currently working on remastering them for a big release down the road. “We have a lot of early material we’ve stopped sharing,” says Meyer. “We are currently re-mastering it all to breathe some much needed life into some great old basement recordings.”

Meyer brings a lot of heart to this EP, and while it’s not perfect, it’s not meant to be. It’s fun – and I’ll take fun over perfect any day.

Careless Laughter is out now. Listen here!