“No One Tastes Like You” by Litvar

At first just a bit more aggressive than it has to be, I think the intensity of the opening riff in Litvar’s new single and music video “No One Tastes Like You” is essential to our appreciating the onslaught of melodicism on the track’s horizon. Considering the importance of the fragile elements in this song – such as the vocal, the narrative behind the verses, and the relationship between singer and band – the throttling push of these opening bars is definitely enough to set the pace, and it does so without apologies in what feels like one of the slicker rock tracks out this summer.

The lead vocal is admittedly a little delicate next to the instrumental concept in “No One Tastes Like You,” but its lack of brawn doesn’t eliminate the pressure in the arrangement at all – if anything, I think it makes things all the tenser. Tension is one of the great agents of communication this band uses to leverage their most intriguing moments in this track, and while it would get in the way for a lot of their rivals, it’s something that Litvar has made into one of their strongest and most effective weapons.

When it comes to the groove in this single, Litvar couldn’t have been more clandestine, but it’s with purpose. Where others would have been more aggressive just to create a strong framework with the drums, it’s the melodic instrumentation lending the most intensity to this mix, which isn’t common in any realm of rock music at the moment. It’s as much an ode to the potency of punk rock at its finest as it is a great point of contrast with the lyrical element here, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say for a lot of similarly conceptual works released in the past couple of years.

Our singer’s verses withstand the pressure of the beat excellently, and I think he would be able to give us just as intimate a delivery ahead of an acoustic arrangement as he does with this electrifying backdrop. “No One Tastes Like You” is a track that centers on his emotional lashings, and while he could have been more indulgent and appealed to the indie pop crowd more than he does in this instance, I like the power he’s exerting from behind the mic. It’s a small dose of what we’d probably hear in a live performance, which I’m now all the more interested in seeing for myself.

They’re just starting to explore their sound in a song like “No One Tastes Like You,” but the ambitiousness of this material tells me that Litvar has got a future ahead of them for sure. There’s been a surge of renewed interest in alternative rock over the last few years, and the adrenaline of a piece like this one is bound to fuel the fire – and, likely, even more interest in what a band like Litvar can produce when they’re put in the right creative and aesthetical circumstances. All in all, they’re on fire here.

Mindy McCall