Shipping News' 44 minutes of funk flavor will make you wanna hit the sauce like a serial killer on smack.
Oh, wait, I was saving that for a review of some new white rapper.
Seriously, though, the boys of Shipping News-former Rodan partners Jason Noble and Jeff Mueller, along with drummer Kyle Crabtree, have got a serious jones for style. Strings and piano flutter all over the place in this latest installment, and the sound is, well, just damn smart. And kind of funky, in the News' mathematical sort of way. Sometimes aggressive, always interesting, Shipping News make intelligent music for physicists who wish they could like punk rock.
Very Soon, And In Pleasant Company is decidedly less rocked-out than the band's last effort. Hell, "Actual Blood" is a bona-fide ballad, with Noble's piano taking center stage in the mix right next to Mueller's tickling guitar. Listening to the album's epic seven-minute closer, "How To Dream," one could almost be convinced they were listening to a record by Noble's über-cool chamber music side project Rachel's.
Another winning aspect of this record: the vocals. Since ditching his former main project, June of 44, Mueller has come a long way in that department. With Noble sharing singing duties, the band seems to have finally succeeded in combining their expert musicianship with the type of well-honed vocal delivery previously only thought possible in way-stoopider bands.
Still, it's galloping rockers like concert favorite "Nine Bodies, Nine States" that showcase the band's rhythmic elasticity and their ability to rock a room. The brooding opening track, "March Song," should keep the kids happy in that department.
It may not have the TRL caché of a crack-smoking white boy, but Very Soon, And In Pleasant Company is pleasant company indeed.
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