Search - The Hurricane Lamps :: Tilting at Windmills

Well-Crafted Indie Rock

Greg Bamford | Cleveland Heights, OH, USA | 06/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the one to buy!Their third album, it's also the best demonstration of their DIY craftsmanship and classic indie rock melody; at last, the Lamps have benefitted from increased musical sophistication, the addition of a fabulous new drummer, and a shift to 16-track recording. (The Lamps, who record their own albums in the basement of lead singer Eric Tischler, previously released two collections of promising songs hampered by muffled 8-track sound.)Here, their guitar-driven indie rock sound -- think The Wedding Present, or Superchunk, or even a boy-fronted Velocity Girl -- becomes fuller, richer, more mature; all parts of the band come through loud and clear, the percussion pumping on equal terms with jangly guitars. Additions like the glockenspiel make for a more interesting texture. The one instrumental track, "Perfect Taco #1", is almost there to brag about the sound that fills every part of your ear and is almost, dare I say, funky. No one part of this is revelatory. On the contrary, it's fun and familiar, reminding you in its permutations how much energy is left in the guitar-bass-drum rock form.The oeuvre remains consistent: love, heartbreak, why I'm not good enough for you, baby I want you back, et al. -- but that's most of my life since 16 and I'm not averse to hearing it one more time.Pick this one up."