THE STRANGEST THING WE'VE EVER SEEN

The second album from this American band. I don't know if I like this or the debut better. Like the first I enjoy it the more I hear it. Their sound is generally hard to describe. Varied and eclectic influences but fairly modern sounding for the most part. The music changes a lot but mostly 'rocks' to some extent. The vocals sound almost indie. They remind me at times of the singer from Modest Mouse.

"Ortuo Ortni" is a short and atmospheric keyboard piece with some backwards effects. "The Strangest Thing" starts off sounding like jazz being played on an old, scratchy vinyl record in mono. A goofy childlike melody gets played and then becomes a full rock band playing it loud and in stereo now. This track is generally some kind of symphonic fusion. Nice violin work before the singing begins. Cool synth soloing at the end. "Dokdokwas" has a really cool riff beginning 1 1/2 minutes in. The song actually only gets better from there with great melodies and interplay between the instruments. The song ends with circus-like organ which segues into...

"Can't Live With 'Em." This song has a really interesting middle section featuring a female vocalist singing country-style. She is doing a call-and-response with a male vocalist as another spoken male voice is sort of a referee. Weird but effective. "Down To Alaska" has a riff in it that sounds like a cross between Zeppelin and the Chili Peppers. Towards the end is some cool synth and great melodic guitar. "Overboard" is the longest song but one of the least interesting musically. There is a spoken word part that sounds like it was done using a megaphone. Contains a nice vocal hook mixed with electric piano.

"Limbo" has another great riff starting around 3 1/2 minutes with an awesome spacey synth solo. "Heading Home" has great guitar playing. Cool riffs and chord progressions backed up by sympathetic violin and drumming. There is little or no space between the songs making the whole album appear seamless. The cover art is neat. I listened to this like their debut on their Bandcamp page. Check it out. I'll give this a 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.