have been pegged as an band, and, to their credit, they avoid most of the cliches that plague other bands in the genre; 's emotionally resonant songs employ the spare, driving urgency of bands like , but combine it with the tunefulness of more straightforward bands like the . Musically, is fairly conventional -- a jangly, textured mix of electric and acoustic guitars washing over mid-tempo beats -- but 's strident and frequently off-key vocals add the raw, keening tension that makes the " " tag appropriate. ~ Andy Hinds