Ill Lit is hardly the first band to fuse folk-pop melodies with electronic beats and textures, but few, if any, acts have pushed both poles of their sound to such extremes while simultaneously maintaining an equal balance between roots and rhythms. The ingenious
WACMusic plants one foot in the dustbowl and the other in Bell Labs, an approach sonically and thematically reminiscent of
Grandaddy's excellent
The Sophtware Slump. The record's mournful, windswept sound powerfully evokes the isolation and alienation engendered by the prairie and the PC alike, while the lovely harmonies suggest a remixed
Gram Parsons and
Emmylou Harris -- it's gorgeous, truly unique stuff. ~ Jason Ankeny