By Michael EdwardsLast year, Yuck demonstrated that it was possible to borrow heavily from the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth and still make an enjoyable album that didn't sound like a complete rip-off. And now Olympia, WA's Broken Water do almost exactly the same thing ― almost. It all starts off happily enough with "Drown" and "Coming Down," both of which could happily sit alongside anything from Bad Moon Rising-era Sonic Youth, but then things go a little awry. The problem is that everything is mixed into a bit of a sludgy mess, apart from the guitars, which always find their way to the forefront. That makes said guitars the most interesting thing about Broken Water and when they aren't around things plod along uneventfully. It is as if the band are going out of their way not to write anything close to a pop song, so when it does happen it's purely accidental. Tempest is in need of more of those happy accidents. (Hardly Art)
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