All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors...

Releasing a couple albums in the mid to late nineties, New Jersey’s All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors for the most part went unnoticed sadly. Part of it I imagine was due to the constant criticism of them being just another MBV clone. At this point that could be said for a million bands, and as for ANLALF I honestly believe they weren’t THAT similar.

Their first Self-Titled album was released in 1996 and was later reissued on Gern Blandsten in 2001 with some extra tracks. It’s a bit different than what their follow up and final album Turning into Small would have to offer, which was released in 1998 on Gern Blandsten. Turning into Small is definitely the most accomplished of the two and for casual fans might be the only one worth checking out, however it’s extremely enjoyable in my opinion. While it does resemble MBV in more than a few ways, it’s far from a direct aping of style which some write ups of the band would lead one to believe. In actuality the band was much more focused on the manipulation of swirling electronics and synth as opposed to creating a wall of sound through droning guitar layers and immense layers of feedback. Granted, there is still plenty of feedback and the end result is more or less a nice sheet of melodic noise, but instead of being completely blissed out and taking the ethereal dream-pop route the band often treads into space rock territory using tones that seem otherworldly and a bit disorienting. They’re really a band that got pigeonholed for really no reason, which is too bad. They were in my opinion doing something quite innovative with the sound. After the band had already split, they released a compilation of singles and rarities in 2001 called Straight Blue Line on Gern Blandsten which is also worth taking a look at as well. Anyway, definitely check out the tracks below and decide for yourself.

All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors:
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – Muffin 57 [MP3]
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – Saturn Jig [MP3]

Turning Into Small:
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – You Can Never Tell [MP3]
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – When Things Come Falling [MP3]

Straight Blue Line:
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – Exploded View [MP3]
All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors – That Familiar Look to You [MP3]

After the band broke up members went on to form the bands Jett Brando and Ifwhen. Most of All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors’ albums can still be found on Amazon, so definitely check those out if the music is to your liking. As always, enjoy!