Undaunted, I popped the ugly bastard in and was shocked at the completely incongruent, very pleasant sound that jumped out of the speakers. This will have initiial appeal for fans of classic indie rock along the lines of Pavement, Archers, Superchunk, Unrest, shoegazer rock.
Backed by pretty female backing vocals, the singer has a touch of Mark E. Smith and David Byrne. As the album progresses, chunky guitars verge on Pelicanesque or Amrep metal riffage and it feels like the band has not yet found their own sound. The wah wah riffs meets Bastro on "Devious Comedian" aren't helping to that end, nor is the comically punk vocal on "Weird Guy" .
A good start. This band needs to hire a graphic designer and continue to forge a distinct and consistent sound, hopefully devoid of wah wah and slap bass, and putting greater and clearer emphasis on the utterly charming indierock and art-rock sides of their sound.
