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,
-- which is way unfortunately named, calling to mind as it does a
screamo
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
the Beastie Boys
. Opener
"Stoner Jam,"
meanwhile, seems in service to
Courtney
's ultra-coolness. Combined, all of
'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