Solid, but forgettable indie rock. Straight up 4-piece rock. Vocals are high in the mix, even when the guitars are heavily distorted and there's tons of reverb, the albums still feels clean. There's nothing amazing here, but I can't help liking how competent these songs are. They started out in NYC about the same time as Interpol & the Walkmen (had a split EP!), and it shows. Picks: 1, 7, 9. FCC Clean.

***1) Such a sucker for the guitar buildup starting this track. Standard rock, super clean vocals. Catchy, uptempo. (3:13)
2) Gloomy Interpol opener, Walkmen vocals. Rock breakdown ending. Mid-tempo. (3:30)
*3) Bassline, whispered vocals, slow for first half, then full-band mid-tempo. Nice soundtrack outro. (3:58)
4) Opens with crunchy guitars, then Death Cab-y vocals, repetitive lyrics. (3:33)
*5) Oddly sinister for this record. Slow, dark & restrained. Swelling chorus. Drum machine?(4:58)
*6) Acoustic guitar, distant feel. Gloomy atmospherics. Breaks into loud distorted guitars, vocal styling stays the same. (4:21)
***7) Acoustic guitar, creaky noises. Catchy. (3:52)
8) Musical interlude, slow deliberate electric guitar with distant squeal. Ends with static.(1:23)
***9) Crunchy guitars, uptempo, reverbed vocals, MBV-ish. (3:45)
10) Crunchy guitars, pounding drums. Weezer done dark. Angry. (3:38)
11) Whispered vocals. Death Cab-y, then ~3min building electric guitars until the end. (4:58)