Drawing immediate comparisons to the
Foo Fighters, Los Angeles'
The Kite-Eating Tree uses guitar power and offbeat prose to shape
Method Fail Repeat. If
Mike Hunter's vocal performances are credible, his angst steals the show on tunes like "Hollywood Hates You" and the nonsensical "Softer Seems the Pavement." If the latter, the disc's opener, resembles
Chavez, it's hardly a bad thing, with aggressive chording giving it and "Through the Width of a Straw" the kind of six-string force that has been absent since the passing of grunge. It's not exactly distinct, but from the punky "Hope Is a Passenger" to the melodic "Like Butterscotch,"
Method Fail Repeat is a solid, (and at ten songs) succinct album that brings the reliability back to alt-rock.