专辑简介

by Joshua GlazerHailing from Baltimore, it's clear that the members of Candy Machine were heavily informed by neighboring Washington D.C. godheads Fugazi and their tighter-that-tight anti-oppression post-punk. This, the band's second album, also finds them flirting with more disjointed sound of Midwest math rockers Trenchmouth and Scissor Girls. The result is a record that casually displays both sets of influences while never achieving greatness in either. Singer Peter Quinn has the requisite abstract anti-establishment lyrics shouted through a bull-horn-type compression, and the three musicians can lay down a tight groove, but they posses neither the histrionic power of their East Coast contemporaries or the edge of chaos tumble of the Midwest. "Syndicate" and "The Over Under Rule in Progress" have catchy rhythm hooks that lock like gears in constant repetition, but "Spotlight" opens with an absurd blues riff while "Absinthe" completely loses itself in abysmal meandering. And the closing piece, "Procession," sounds like it could have been some sort of bizarre Donovan outtake. Trying to play with the big dogs of post-punk, Candy Machine comes up a few points short on the energy/action scale.