Pontiak

The brothers Carney are back with a quick follow-up to last year's debut, Sun on Sun. Once again they've stuck with a live-to-tape recording of the instruments, highlighting their psychic sibling riffing and the seemingly imminent disintegration of singer/guitarist Van's amps. That red line sound, coupled with hints of wizardry in the room's acoustics, makes for a less controlled vibe. Opener "Laywayed," for example, inserts dead air silences and an extreme bounce echo to an anthemic guitar groove. The '70s hard rock touchstones are still in full effect but they've chopped up the tracks to smaller bites, save for the centrepiece title track, which sprawls like Zeppelin on quaaludes. Vocals are only added to key tracks, to good effect, but overall the album lacks Sun on Sun's fat-free-all-muscle (car) magic. Maker feels a little like greasy leftovers but then again, that can make the best comfort food sometimes.