FRANCES THE MUTE

A fantastic progression of the band's sound while retaining their distinct aggressive creativity, "Frances the Mute" features more cohesive song writing (being less manic), stronger narrative and an increased sense of direction, giving this album a more mature feel. The songs themselves are a splendid mix of rock melodies and spacey interludes, with fantastic instrumental work throughout by all members. They have a unique pacing and style to them which grabs the listener with big builds and hooks. Moreover, I am consistently amazed at the level of musicianship that is packed into these songs, and discover new effects and sounds each time I listen.

While the opener is more or less a straight-ahead rocker, we're also given extended moments of atmosphere and nuance, such as in the 13:00 minute introduction to the central epic-- speaking of which, features some of the most powerfully dynamic melodies and instrumental moments I can think of (your head might explode), not to mention fantastic lyrics from Bixler-Zavala-- the end result being a nicely varied palette of creative sounds which never fails to impress.

Highly, highly recommended.

Songwriting: 5 Instrumental Performances: 5 Lyrics/Vocals: 5 Style/Emotion/Replay: 5