Detachment Kit - Of This Blood

"Night of My Death" starts off like a Sufjan Stevens ballad -- lovely horns and falsetto winsomeness mix with acoustic guitars, an unlikely beginning for this Chicago post-punk band more associated with Les Savy Fav than the Elephant 6 spirit. This melts into "Skyscraper," an epic guitar ballad not unlike a Sunny Day Real Estate torch burner with its emo-style whisper screams. Lovely bells hint below of the band's melodic drive. Ian Menard's wounded vocal delivery, a cross between Spoon's Britt Daniel and Jeff Tweedy, especially on the album's standout guitar pop tracks "Pill Cake" and "Ricochet." It is in this first half of the album that the band, guilty of getting a little too near idols Les Savy Fav, break ground as mature songwriters. Read More