4 keepers
keeper avg .400
On their third album "Starless," Shiner finally realizes the emo/math rock promise of their previous two. Album opener "Spinning"**** features both memorable riffs and sing-able melodies, and a bridge that's both math-y and catchy. In the next track "Giant's Chair"**** the tension of the staccato machine-like verses is released by anthemic "it's always good to be king, but it's never good to be me" chorus. While front-man Allen Epley's vocals are considerably refined relative to the harsh-sounding debut album (1996), the typical emo math rock trappings - angular riffs and complex rhythms - haven't been sacrificed, and define tracks like "Kevin Is Gone" and "Glass Jaw Test." And on "Semper Fi"**** Epley ups the conventional emo/math ante, playing the squirrely but hypnotic riff at metallic intensity.
Elsewhere, other approaches have varying results. Spooky, spacey passages at the beginning of "Unglued"**** are evocative and memorable, though the loud parts are less so. "Rearranged" seems to be played back in reverse, which Husker Du already did so not much reason for that ("Dreams Reoccurring", 1984). "Lazy Eye" creates a less catchy "Plush" (STP, 1992), while the closing title song has a similar quiet foreboding to Radiohead's "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1995). But a few missteps aside, it's a vast improvement over Shiner's early albums and up there with anything by Jawbox or Failure, their only peers I can think of.
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