Search - Lupine Howl :: 125

After being cut loose from Spiritualized, Sean Cook, Mike Mooney, and Damon Reece regrouped and found themselves waffling on whether or not to try to outdo Jason Pierce at his own game of moody atmospherics and weepy narcosis. Based upon these seven tracks, it seems wise to let the spirit of the old band lie. "Tired" and "Swell" aren't bad, but they feel like last year's model, while "Mexican Cantina" just hovers around aimlessly for five minutes. Things improve greatly when the band summons the courage to stray from what they've known so far. "Vaporizer" and "Bronzage" are successful attempts at their oft-stated goal of bringing the Spencer Davis Group into the new millennium. They even manage a couple of times to sound like the Jesus and Mary Chain, most notably in the kicky adrenaline blast of "125" and the delicate construct of cool lyrical nihilism, light piano flourishes, and Doppler-effect call-and-response guitar squawks on "Voodoo Raygun." Here's hoping they crawl further out on a limb for their full-length release. --Bob Michaels