The ninth studio long player from the veteran California-based quartet,
Tangle of Time sees the
Animal Liberation Orchestra up to their usual tricks, carving up genres and subgenres into little pieces and reassembling them into something that sounds both cosmopolitan and familiar. With only one song crossing the five-minute mark, the jam band label can only be applied loosely, but
ALO's penchant for pairing clever noodling, odd instrumentation, and lyrics tinted with well-worn tie-dyed mysticisms will still likely result in the occasional pocket of wiggle dancers. That said, some of
Tangle of Time's best cuts are straight-up soft rock club bangers, with the Soweto guitar-laced "The Ticket" veering dangerously into
Daft Punk "Get Lucky" territory, and the equally smooth and piston-like "Coast to Coast" owing more than a cursory nod to
Steely Dan. Elsewhere, the heartfelt, Zydeco-kissed "Sugar on Your Tongue" and the bluesy, self-effacing "Not Old Yet" go a long way in illuminating the contrast between bass player Steve Adams' offbeat songwriting style (the latter) and multi-instrumentalist
Zach Gill's more traditional and earnest manner (the former), but for the most part,
Tangle of Time sounds like a proper
ALO outing, albeit with a decidedly sleeker pop sheen. ~ James Christopher Monger