Ring, Cicada returns after a collection of EPs for their first official full-length,
Good Morning Mr. Good; this time with occasional vocals from Christian Powell that sound like a mellowed
Black Francis. The music remains driving and progressive, like math rock with a little less of a metal bent, as the band charges through spiky but emotive numbers like "Esoterrorism." At times as dark and relentless as
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead ("Flinch"), and often as crunchy and uplifting as
Sonic Youth's most golden moments circa
Daydream Nation ("March"),
Ring, Cicada works a full palette of feelings with two sharp and sparkling guitars and dazzling production by
Steve Albini. But it's the vocals -- like on the nostalgic "I Remember" -- that truly set the group apart from contemporaries like
the Fucking Champs and
Explosions In the Sky, and more of these in future will render
Ring, Cicada unstoppable. ~ Charles Spano