The Dreadful Yawns' previous album, 2007's
Rest, found the group still more or less in the vein of folk-country-Americana roots rock, if with more psychedelic touches and broader instrumentation than most such bands. They sound substantially different, however, on the following year's
Take Shape, though some of that arch psych-tinged country-folk is still present.
Take Shape takes a decided turn toward the slightly wacky and psychedelic, the guitars often crunching harder, shimmering organ more to the forefront, and newly added member Elizabeth Kelly a prominent presence with her high and naifish vocals. Certainly if you define psychedelia at least in part as odd and eclectic, much of the CD fits the bill on both accounts. There's lilting, melancholy folk-rock on "Catskill"; almost punk-tinged power pop on "Kill Me Now"; San Francisco psychedelic-style folk-rock balladry on "All for Me"; an early
Pink Floyd-ish passage of grating improvised noise in the middle of "Don't Know What I've Been On"; and yet more noise rock jamming that polishes off the concluding cut, "Mood Assassin." Despite the album's title, what this does not have is a musical vision that takes shape in too consistent or coherent a fashion over the course of the record. ~ Richie Unterberger