The Rock*A*Teens
Sweet Bird of Youth
Merge
The opening “Car And Driver” makes it sound like the Rock*A*Teens have been studiously listening to Quasi, as the gnarled harpsichord and tortured chord changes testify. Nonetheless, it still features that unique R*A*T strangled vocal yelp and strangely sad drumming. Most of the album follows in similar (though not as Quasi-like) fashion. Like haunted men exorcising their ghosts through music, the band never fails to put in an emotional performance, this time around backing off the reverb a bit (just a bit) to let some more musical detail through. This is some of the most melancholy, rawest music around.
Merge Records, Box 1235, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; http://www.mrg2000.com
