Search - Atombombpocketknife :: Lack & Pattern

Lack and Pattern

Mike Newmark | Tarzana, CA United States | 10/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Atombombpocketknife play dirty, low budget indie rock on Lack and Pattern, their third LP. While their previous outings on Southern Records felt hampered by weak songwriting and shopworn, big-rock clichés, Lack and Pattern seees the band settling into a raw yet realized groove. Like the best noise-rockers, Atombombpocketknife provide context for their dissonant chords and squalling blasts of feedback, so that the music is as head-turning as it is head-thrashing.



Part of the credit goes to new drummer Tony Lazzara, laying down syncopated rhythms for the similarly slanted music. Matt Espy, skins-man emeritus who took the band through two full-lengths and a misguided EP, lacked the confidence and excitement to lift the insipid music out of the lo-fi doldrums, but with a more creative rhythm section, the band is able to push forward into new territory. Vocalist Justin Sinkovich rarely sings without incorporating harmonies-another step forward-and they add dynamism to his bristling sing-scream hybrid. They are, for instance, what make the climax of "Recovery Club" and the slow-burning "Flood" particularly powerful. Add to that the simple facts that the quality of the music has been upped as well as the album pacing, and you've got yourself one helluva growing band.



With these new developments, Atombombpocketknife has managed to shed its image as a poor man's Unwound. The two bands will inevitably draw comparisons since they incorporate a similarly abrasive approach, but Atombombpocketknife is slowly moving toward their own distinctive sound. For one, they sound angrier and more brutal than they ever have. This means that they come off as macho at times, which doesn't tend to be a hot commodity in post-millennial indie rock, but this is a group that clearly has a message, political or otherwise, that they're dying to exhort. Their best songs happen to be their loudest; Shards CTA rips through three and a half minutes of charged ferocity, and the coarsely anthemic call-to-action of Gold Leaf showcases what the band does best: combining urgently sung vocals with tightly-wound, dissonant melodies seamlessly. Lack and Pattern shows Atombombpocketknife to be a skilled band with even more potential, and a veritable force in the Chicago post-rock scene.

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