Evangelicals

Perhaps it was their lysergicly-enhanced sound or their geographic proximity, but this Oklahoman trio’s 2006 debut, So Gone, drew many (favourable) Flaming Lips comparisons. This excellent follow-up may not completely disentangle them from Coyne and company but it proves they can carve out more than enough of their own elbowroom. If you were writing a band description in searchable tags, then "arpeggio” and "propulsion” would be high up. The first in the form of guitar runs and curvy keyboard burbles that keep the album aloft throughout. The second in the form of, well, everything else, as on "Skeleton Man,” where the band do their best impression of Clap Your Hands being sucked through a jet engine. Even when the pace slows on "Snowflakes” and "Here in the Deadlights,” there’s enough ambience to satisfy an aircraft lounge happy hour at cruising altitude. For all the chaos, the Evangelicals somehow manage to keep their hooks and details from crashing into a great heap. Moreover, this sounds like an album, not a grab bag of tracks. If we all have to agree upon a band to record the next great concept album, I nominate these guys.