Gratefully, musical sophistication is something that doesn't much appeal to
Blood on the Wall. Instead of being more carefully produced or less manic or just plain better, the trio's third disc is, as they christened it, simply
Awesomer.
Ben Shanks shrieks with the same lit-up, near-lunatic force he brought to the band's self-titled debut, and his sister
Courtney Shanks continues to sound as though she wished she were playing with
Yo La Tengo or
Cowboy Junkies; all the racket just makes her want to retreat into some
lo-fi hollow. Still,
Blood on the Wall -- which is way unfortunately named, calling to mind as it does a
screamo or
metal outfit -- is a band that manages to pull its disparate energies together, and that's what makes its music so likable and so genuinely fresh. Between
"You Are a Mess" and
"Mary Susan," Ben manages to recall both
the Violent Femmes and
the Beastie Boys. Opener
"Stoner Jam," meanwhile, seems in service to
Courtney's ultra-coolness. Combined, all of
Awesomer's songs stimulate a need to follow the band for its next few outings. Schizophrenia -- not to mention the vast bulk of safe-playing
indie rock acts -- never sounded this good. ~ Tammy La Gorce
