Candace Lazarou decided to fly solo after the demise of Mansion, her former band. She kept the 90s alternarock feel and ratcheted the tension up to a million. This album is a full-throated scream, a murderous rumination on identity and society.

Body Double Milk Fed (Zum)

I'm talking about the music as well as the lyrics. Lazarou has given plenty of interviews about the subject matter of the songs on this set. But the music sets the tone. The guitars slice and gash, and most songs don't even try to resolve into a comfortable verse-chorus format. More than one seems to be teetering on an extended bridge, though that's hard to tell without the rest of the structure.

So, yes, this is a bumpy ride. Lazarou seems most interested in the atonal sonic palette of mid-90s Touch and Go artists like Kepone, though she deconstructs the rhythmic fury and fuses the noise to a pre-Soft Bulletin Flaming Lips approach to psychedelia. And then she bites off another chunk of something else.

No matter the tempo, Lazarou keeps pushing the uncomfortability meter. She wants to talk (and, um, kinda sing) about things most of the rest of us would rather leave bottled up. This album is a big bowl of pain and anxiety, but if it doesn't give you a heart attack you might just fall in love. Once Body Double kicks in, there's no way to jump off. You will be dragged to your doom.

Jon Worley