Now that we've got your attention... well, the subject's inevitably gonna come up anyway if the topic is Girls Against Boys, arguably some of the most libidinal, darkest- underbellied unconscious- desire- raisers since Jim Morrison started bringing up that thing about his mother.
And probably the most consistent, too: Freak*On*Ica is the band's sixth album in about as many years, and the ominously seedy yet darkly cool DC/NY boys continue to refine and define their churning- guitar attack without losing a bit of focus or grit (despite this album's emergence on DGC rather than their previous indie homes).
Gradually pulling away from the alternating industrial/ lounge lizard shtick of earlier albums like Tropic of Scorpio, here GVSB delve further into their more recent signature vibe: their swirly- pulsing, guitar- and- bass factory clank, with singer Scott McCloud's whispery- raw taunting vocals and often acerbic lyrics just the top layer of the foursome's smooth, sexy control.
All this, despite so many reasons to more- than- half- expect Freak*On*Ica to be a sell-out or watering- down: It's on a major, it's album six, the press has already been hyping it, the faux- bandwagon title isn't so far from other bands' realities. Plus the hybridization of McCloud's vaguely leering stance and those cheekbones really does hit the mark (for those into such things, ahem); saddled with the "sexiest band in America" tag by countless writers, the four protest weakly to the contrary but don't do a damn thing to counteract it.
Despite all of Freak*On*Ica's undisappointing strength and style, there's just a tiny bit of evolution here that doesn't always serve them best: Some well- placed scratching (probably a leftover impulse from their Minneapolis club DJ-ing stint) could get annoying if tried again, and Nick Launay's aggro production leans once or twice toward the extreme- sports- friendly. But taken as a complete whole, there's so much here to get the heart pumping, the spine tingling and... oh, heck, all the other parts you'd expect as well.
-Mara Schwartz