Introspection is all well and good, but most of the time I believe it's not the best approach to music. Very few artists can translate interiors into an exterior environment. Also, since most "introspective" music is slow and dreary, it can sound whiny awful damn fast.

TRAAMS Personal Best (Fat Cat)

TRAAMS don't fall into that trap. The production on this album is at once dreamlike and spartan--kinda like a shinier version of an early 80s Fall album. TRAAMS wander into Mark E. Smith territory occasionally, but these songs have a lot more to do with indie pop and not degenerating punk. And, y'know, the instruments are played with skill.

My modest familiarity with TRAAMS has left me with the notion that the band sounds more like a stretched-out, more chill version of New Order. With fewer hooks (and a much more understated bass, though that goes without saying). But these songs burble along with an insistent hookiness, lending a stream-of-consciousness feel. Maybe that's where the dreamlike thing comes from.

As far from a slap in the face as can be, Personal Best sidles up and charms on its own time. The end effect is utterly charming. The band takes the long road there, however, leaving warm bits of loveliness along the way. Stick with it. Postponed joy is no less rapturous.

Jon Worley