In the two years since Piebald's last album We Are The Only Friends We Have, the band has toured America more times than I can even remember, watched as singer Travis Shettel had to go under the knife for throat surgery, and as a bizarre coup de gras, aligned themselves with SideOneDummy, home to many bands that are definitely not like Piebald at all. Many wondered how the band would perform on their new album.

Well, if anything, the band got weirder. But somehow, in that weirdness, they got more consistent. On Friends, the good songs - "American Hearts," "Just A Simple Plan" - were great. But the album was plagued with quite a few not-so-good songs to accompany the gems, thus making the album a wholly unbalanced affair. The band has remedyed that on this disc, sort of. None of the 12 real songs [there's also 3 interludes] on here are as instantly infectious as the ones I mentioned from the last album, but on the other end of the coin, none of the 12 songs are incredible duds, either.

The instrumentation is decidedly more ambitious on this disc than ever before, with the band making good use of piano in songs like the bouncy "Haven't Tried It." "All Senses Lost" is a fun 6/8 number that would be a great slow song at senior prom in an alternate universe. The band's quirky pop song chops get a good workout through the disc's opening salvo of "The Benefits Of Ice Cream," "Present Tense," and "Human Taste Test." Time signatures change, guitar lines cut through power chords, Shettel's newly repaired voice howls, and you'll find your head bobbing more than once.

Even though their last disc had stronger individual tracks, the flow here is so much better that it just makes this album easier to listen to than past efforts. It's not groundbreaking by any means, but there's worse things to be listening to right now.

STREAMING AUDIO
The Jealous Guy Blues
Haven't Tried It
Giving Cup

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