ROCKSPOSURE.....Be Heard

Album Review

By Joey Tayler

Over the course of 2009’s “And Everything Changes” and last year’s “Modern Splendor,” the Elusive Parallelograms did a lot of things very well, and very quickly: two minutes of scuzzy shoegaze, then a quick minute of instrumental mood music, then two minutes of punk, then a languid two and a half minutes of proggy space rock, just to stretch out a bit.

“Reverse Polarity” starts the Parallelogram’s new EP, “Habits,” in yet another direction: epic “Friday Night Lights” fireworks. And this time, the sound sticks.

Sort of.

After ninety seconds, a staticy twist of the dial tunes the record into “No Time,” a punky, bass-heavy thudder that sounds like it belongs on another record … until you hear those twinkling guitars streaking across the song like comets. “Glue” -- maybe the band’s finest three minutes yet -- sounds like it’s going to settle back into that pretty opening ambiance… until it doesn’t, and the drums usher in thrashing guitars that drive the song into one great big crescendo. “The Bear” sounds … like the one goofy mistake you find on most EPs, and a forgivable one considering that I like Deerhunter too, and what follows is awesome: guitars nose-diving and short circuiting all-over the aptly-named “Collapse”, and the big sky “Three Mountains” vista spanning back to the album’s opening grace notes.

Ehh, maybe it’s best if the Parallelograms ignore jerks like me and keep channel surfing. Think of all the boring indie rock shows you’ve sat through where you can’t tell when one drone ends and the next one begins. Cohesion can be boring. These guys ain’t that.

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Joey Tayler is the lead writer on Rocksposure.com. Based out of Milwaukee, WI, he is always looking for a new show to see. If there is something you think he should be listening to, send him an email at JoeyT@Rocksposure.com