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Offend Maggie
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Barnes and Noble
Offend Maggie
Current price: $26.99
Barnes and Noble
Offend Maggie
Current price: $26.99
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Size: OS
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More expansive than
, not quite as sprawling as
,
is among
's most balanced albums. However, that doesn't convey the sense of adventure that courses through every track.
begins the album with emphatic guitars that turn mischievous and a shape-shifting melody that keeps changing right up to the song's end.
is one of
's most riff-filled albums since
, thanks to the addition of second guitarist
to the fold: power chords set off the flute-like purity of
's voice on
and the acoustic strumming on
makes its brevity all the more striking. The band brings both of theses sounds together brilliantly on
itself, which moves from a briskly lilting acoustic figure that recalls a sped-up
or
to plugged-in chugging, while
sings about a telemarketing romance gone wrong over rollicking drums. That
can pack so much appeal and inventiveness into two minutes shows, once again, that they don't so much "go pop" as remake pop in their own image.
Elsewhere,
gives equal time to the charming but not too cutesy
with the hyper-expressive
where
becomes the ball as she describes how the players dance and weave on the court, and
which buries its bubblegummy melody under drums and distortion. The more challenging
surfaces on
which name-checks the German prog rock band
and nods to prog with its massive keyboards and guitars, intricate rhythms, and suite-like movements.
's towering bassline and spiraling guitars make it
's version of funk-rock, while
's distorted vocals and rinky-dink electronics sound like an homage to
. The introspective
get their due on
where a spooky intro gives way to
's vocal harmonies, rippling guitars, and meditations on interconnectedness, and on
's jazzy, moody finality. While
isn't as dramatic a change from what came before it as
and
were, its subtler changes and elaborations make it far from predictable -- other than that, it's another consistently interesting
album. ~ Heather Phares