The consistently brilliant
Sonna
does it again with
Smile and the World Smiles With You
, a lush masterpiece of epic
indie rock
recorded by
Steve Albini
and the follow-up to its critically lauded debut,
We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight
. The subtle, shimmering guitar interplay on tracks like
"Open Ended"
shows that this band owes as much to past
psychedelics
like
Pink Floyd
as it does to the
Slint
lineage. By taking the quiet subtlety of
Low
and combining it with the grandeur of
Mogwai
and the gentle tones of
Mum
(see
"One Most Memorable"
),
conjures a sprawling dream album -- but one that still seems to keep in touch with the crunchy and danceable immediacy of more standard
. From the jangling
country
shuffle that kicks off
"The Right Age"
to the golden moods of
"Smile,"
creeps along in slow motion, but it isn't the movement of a glacier, it's the measured rise of the sun over the ocean. ~ Charles Spano