The Five Mod Four CD Review
The Five Mod Four
Whiskers
(Contraphonic)
Milwaukee’s resident wiseacres have some hometown Violent Femmes, but Whiskers picks up more on lo-fi, via Jason Loewenstein and The dB’s.
The major feature of Whiskers is the production values, or lack thereof. What could generously be called a “basement mix” pushes all the instruments to the fore, almost manufacturing mistakes in the process. It’s a charming move when it makes a cover of Orange Juice’s “Poor Old Soul” impossibly more DIY than the original, but on others (“The Sound Of My Own Heels Has Driven Me Crazy,” “That’s Why I Didn’t Like 1996”) it comes off as a ploy to disguise forced melodies. “The Laws We Break” pulls tender strings with arching accordion, but its the slow-dance exception at this Keystone indie rock party.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download “Somebody Failed.”
