PEACE FOR OUR TIME

The second Warm Dust album is a decided step up from the unfocused and inconsistent first album. The conceptual structure in which the songs are interwoven by a narrative about human conflict and exploitation from the 1930s to the time of recording and beyond provides focus for a band that was in dire need of it, and the single album format results in less filler. Musically speaking, the band seems to have matured a bit too, the strong bass line on the opening track suggesting that they'd been paying attention to the funk scene. Plus, there's much less heavy- handed use of distortion on the lead vocalist's singing, which lets the true qualities of his singing voice come through.

The album is not, however, without its flaws. Chief among these is the inclusion of spoken word statements between the songs in which the band members outline all sorts of injustices, poor decisions, and occasional outright malevolence on the part of the political establishment. Regardless of whether or not you are inclined to agree with the band's sentiments, the fact is that the presentation of them is incredibly preachy and self-important, to the point where they become positively irritating as the album progresses. Still, the disc is enough of a step up from the band's debut to earn an extra star. But only one extra star.