Originally published in Verbicide issue #5

This album is at its best when the band slows down and lets the melodic riffs come through. The best way to describe a large chunk of this album is drone. It took the album until track seven to come up with something that pulled me into the album. “Guest List” is what the press release promises “introspection rather than angst,” “loud, tight, and melodic.” I heard a famous animated character once say that “making teenagers sad is like shooting fish in a barrel” and this band probably doesn’t miss much. I challenge them to write songs that are truly moving, instead of the over-generated moods of the last 10 years.

(Deep Elm Records, Post Box 36939, Charlotte, NC 28236)