Here is a band that was ahead of their time. They never fit neatly into any one sub genre. Alternative being a broad umbrella in the 90s. They are ctied as an influence from bands such as the Deftones and Deafheaven heaven . They are metal adjacent though were much closer to being metal on their first to independent albums than when they made it to MTV. If you are counting their 1995 album "You'r Prefer an Astronaut" as their first album then this would be their third. The hazey shoe gaze waver of guitars is even more pronounced as if they are self aware of being thought of as the more mainstream rock version of My Bloody Valentine.
The rock part of this equation is more pronounced on the second song. There are not just dialing it and replicating previous albums.There is more of the Helmet like stomp to "Step Into You" . The vocal falls into their typical relaxed almost crooned indifference . They retained the more punchy sound going into "the Summoning" which despite their metal past sounds like a more metal song title than I would expect from them. The masterfully atmosphere when the sludge like amble of the verse riff. "Cloud City" is dynamic and floats with a pleasing bob. Another indicator at how they are capable of balancing two polarities. They hit their classic sound in a very compact fashion on "Falling". The last song delves deeper into shoe gaze than we have heard from the band before . 22 years later and still able to pick up where they left off. I will give this one a 9.5
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