Ferocious and unrelenting hooks tweaked with synth, cymbal crashes and sax keep Antidotes from getting tossed onto the pile of one-trick dance-punk LPs. The five-piece out of Oxford, England, seems hell-bent on proving it can do more than just work a club into a frenzy. Foals makes sure there are some floating-above-the-clouds atmospheric tracks thrown in with the up-tempo numbers, which are still the band’s stronger suit. This is a young group, and it seems anxious to break out of the math-rock bubble. But for now, Antidotes is only comfortable dipping its toe into the multi-genre pool. (SM)
Obsolete Heart ... and the Devil Makes Three (Venetian Records)
This disc was written in an abandoned house in Burbank, Calif., says the duo behind Obsolete Heart. Before moving in, Brittney Petty and Sean Fahlen had to push a dirty couch into the yard and paint over blood-spattered walls. Real or not, the imagery is appropriate. Dust-caked and with something ominous under the fresh paint, this slow-paced release harkens back to rock when there was an “ ‘n’ roll" at the end. And Petty’s low-end vocals are without ornamentation, moody and soothing. Hear them Saturday, April 19, at Atomic. (MD)
Tokyo Police Club Elephant Shell (Saddle Creek)
I just re-listened to an emo-laden mix tape I made when I was 19 and regretted some of its contents. (As it turns out, At the Drive-In kind of sucked , and what exactly did I see in The Promise Ring?) With another major mental shift imposed upon by age, I’ll probably be embarrassed for liking Tokyo Police Club, what with its whiny vocals and simplistic indie rock arrangements. Despite that inevitability, I proudly proclaim to like this crap. (JCC)
