Battlehooch

San Franciscan six-piece Battlehooch have followed up their 2009 debut, Piecechow, with an eight-song album that races between chaotic and consoling. While the work is solid, the record's downfall comes from its inability to maintain control, spending half its duration as a frantic tantrum and the other half as an intricate, harmoniously handsome sophomore effort that takes itself seriously. You may find yourself wondering if you're still listening to the same band by the time you get halfway through, and does an album called Battlehooch by a band named Battlehooch really need a song called "Battlehooch"? When this band stay focused though, they succeed, particularly on "Caliphate" and "Honest," which you'll find locked in your head days later as you try to decipher the layers of lyrics. This isn't to say that songs in parts are to be avoided, but cramming a trilogy of music into a number that's four minutes long can only result in the moment being lost. "Human Ram" is at least surer of itself, while other songs would be better off taking their time.