keepers - 2
Tail Swallower And Dove seems heavier than the previous TAAS albums on Jade Tree. "Woolen Heirs"****, driven by mechanical guitars and an ominously pulsing bass line, the heavy punctuation on the end of every riff "Red Line Season", and the assertive synth of "Lucifer" and "Lead Beater" have the punch but also loudness of a major label recording, though some tracks are less bombastic. "Prince Squid" and "Cavity Carousel" make greater use of space, emphasizing rhythm like Gang Of Four. "Long And Lonely Step"**** establishes a pleasant holding pattern with a relatively clean delayed guitar riff, before settling into monotonous unison band hits, like Big Ben tolling for almost a whole minute. "Entric Double" starts with a similarly moody guitar line, before defaulting to 4 and a half unnecessary minutes of E chugging. Closing track "Briggs" at last lets up on the volume with a simple arpeggiated slap-back guitar. It's not overly original, but if more of the album allowed this kind of breathing room and melodic sense, listening to it would be less of an endurance test.
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