On only their second full-length release in nearly a decade together, Sacramento noise pop trio
the Electro Group scale back on the neo-prog conceptualism of 2001's
A New Pacifica in favor of a more concise form of buzzy guitar pop triangulated somewhere between early
Jesus and Mary Chain,
My Bloody Valentine's oceans of feedback, and
Dirty-era
Sonic Youth. Only three of the album's 11 songs reach the three-minute mark, and the overall effect of perfect little nuggets like the hurtling "Bikini States" and the druggy haze of "Two Course March" is like finding a great lost shoegazer album that's been lying hidden since 1990 or so. Muffled, artless lead vocals buried in a miasma of drones and choppy single-note rhythm lines, Peter Hook-like melodic basslines under shambolic, thudding drums, and a tactile atmosphere so retro you can almost see the anoraks and bowl haircuts,
Good Technology is certainly a throwback, but it's the best possible sort of throwback, one that simply pays tribute to a favorite musical time and place. ~ Stewart Mason