Sounding a lot like one of those mid-90s post-math-noise bands that would have stopped by Electrical Audio to get the Albini touch, this French four-piece manages to promulgate primitive melodies with maximum edge. One obvious mashup would be Superchunk and June of 44, and those who lived through that era could certainly come up with a dozen more.

Watertank Liminal Status (self-released)

There's just a bit of the modern shoegaze scrim, but that tends to be expressed as general noise. All the chaos and precision can't quite strip these songs from their essential catchiness. I can hear these guys insisting "we're not a power pop band, dammit!" even as they, well, are.

A lot of the time, anyway. There are plenty of conceptual moments, and a lot of pleasing fuzzball riffage. Kinda like a rough-hewn Vitreous Humor, Watertank manages to sink and float at the same time.

I am amazed at how completely this took me back. I've got a list of at least 10 albums I've got to get through this weekend. And I'll be on this one a few times as well. Those who know, know. And if you have a hankering for that "alternative to the alternative" sound (yes, that was a thing, too), drop in. Watertank has taken some of the best sounds of the past and forged them into grimy beauty. So much fun.

Jon Worley