2012.09.08 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien

Color: Black

Released: 2011, August 30

Label: Barsuk

I never bought into the hype surrounding this band with their first release. I tried to really like them… and they just sort of seemed “OK”. On a whim, I listened a song from this record that was floating around the interwebs at the time. Suddenly I was hooked. But could the rest of the record be this good? Yes. Yes it could. Seemingly more focused, more catchy and more agressive and more better than any previous output. And I hate to say it… but the “whoa-oh-uh-oh” ending of “Definite Darkness” is actually satisfyingly catchy. So much so that it helped push this record into my top ten of last year. Bonus that album was helmed by John Agnello, who was the man twiddling the knobs and manning the faders for albums by Jawbox and Chavez, to name a few. I really liked the geometric pattern of the cut up photos that graced the cover of the CD and digital versions, so it was a small let down that when the vinyl version was finally released the cover was missing the same art (save for the vinyl labels themselves) and only shared the pleasing blue hues in common with the other art. Now to check out that new song that the band just shared.