Alright, buckle up, because Anthony Rausku’s “Life is Perfect for Living” isn’t your grandma’s Sunday afternoon singalong. Unless your grandma was really into dissecting the chewy, sometimes unsettling, bits of existence while headbanging to a ’90s-esque soundtrack. This album, this collection of nine sonic explorations, grabs you by the collar and asks, “Are you really living, or just… existing?”
The title track itself, “Life Is Perfect for Living,” feels almost sarcastically serene at first. It got to the point I even considered learning Japanese for a second there. It’s a melody wrapped around a razor blade, suggesting that “harmony” can include the clang of destruction as much as a gentle chord progression. It’s melodic grunge at its finest, a reminder. A raw and confronting melody.
Then there’s “Mistake,”, like finding a half-eaten sandwich in a velvet-lined box – unexpectedly poignant and slightly messy. The track’s a sonic depiction of a hamster wheel of bad decisions, specifically crafted for relationships I bet.
Rausku’s sound is certainly that of the 90’s grunge period.
And “Pancake”? Well, this song lands like a cry for help heard through a distorted megaphone. Someone is not a huge fan of Pancakes, and if they are, maybe that’s why this album is so brilliant! It’s about being squashed, flattened, overlooked. A request and a statement to be heard. It’s a reminder that sometimes the loudest screams are the ones we don’t verbalize, but… express.
The whole album grapples with the messy, imperfect, utterly human experience. It’s like Rausku took all those uncomfortable truths we shove under the rug and wove them into a tapestry of feedback and raw emotion.
This isn’t easy listening. But, is life itself, ‘easy’?
“Life is Perfect for Living” reminds us that perhaps the beauty lies in the cracks. A sentiment well needed.
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