SPIDERLAND

1. "Breadcrumb Trail" (5:55) quite an odd combination of styles and sounds: punkish Americana with pretentiousness and the anger of youth. (8.5/10)

2. "Nosferatu Man" (5:34) sparse, punk-rock-like instrumental sounds with minimalist, angular performances match up well with the same split personality of the vocalist from the opening song: calm, pretentious spoken word sections boxed in by screamed punk-like sections. I can almost see where Simon Reynalds felt that rock might be dead; kind of a combination of Beat-era poetry slamming and King Crimson-infused punk rock. (8.25/10)

3. "Don, Aman" (6:28) opens with more spoken word vocals, "Don stepped outside." Walford's bland electrified guitar strums along with dour chords as McMahan continues relaying his angsty narrative of this all-too-mundane "event." After two minutes and lots of spacious emptiness (is this why TALK TALK got lumped into the Post Rock sub-genre?) the strumming turns less staccato and more constant--though all the time using only soft finger tips to do the strumming. Bass has joined in, then electric guitar, then drums, as the angst (in Don) builds. Weird song that never really seems to resolve itself. (8.25/10)

4. "Washer" (8:50) different singer. Little more "full" musical sound palette--not far from that of contemporaries TALK TALK. A little more "complete" of a song--especially musically--with A and B parts (perhaps even a C!) Still, not anything to write home about--except in terms of how dull music and artistic expression has become. (17/20)

5. "For Dinner..." (5:05) slow, suspenseful start with bass and hi-hat, and then guitar and rest of drums.Alternating between the sparse opening and "full" complement of band members. Lots of bass chords and very careful strumming of the two guitars in just a few chords repeating over and over. In the third minute we get a little variation and dynamic action. Not sure how excited I'm supposed to get: there are no vocals, no story (so far as I can tell) being related. Perhaps that's the key to Post Rock: celebrating the mundane with bland (mundane) music! (8/10)

6. "Good Morning, Captain" (7:39) opens with two distorted slow tremolo dyads accompanied by full bass and drums. Spoken word vocals enter: perspective of a lone survivor of a storm of sea as he catches sight of land. The first song that really demonstrates what kind of skills the instrumentalists have (in particular, the drummer). Definitely a theatric rendering of a scene from a novel or short story. I love how everything ramps up in the final minute. Now THIS is a masterful use of music. Not quite what I'd call progressive rock but definitely art rock. The best song on the album. (13.5/15)

Total Time: 39:31

Soundtracks for a suppressed storyteller? I'm often reminded of the emotional musically-accompanied poetry readings of ANNE CLARKE--though these narrations are less poetic as story scenes. Still literary, though.

B-/3.5 stars; not quite something that I can or would recommend to everyone but definitely an interesting album for those adventurous souls who like to hear everything that music has to offer. The stories are often compelling, even engaging, but the music is often ? not. Funny though, I feel as if I remember liking this album when I first heard it several years ago. What's happened to me since?

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