Defenestration

Hailing originally from the rolling nowhere of Bartlesville, OK, Defenestration sounded like no band to come before them, and their debut is every bit as defiantly unique, with Todd Walker's guitar alternating between a vaguely country drawl, jangle, and something resembling punk and Tyson Meade crooning, shrieking, warbling, and moaning all over everything. As it would be throughout much of his early work, Meade's tantalizingly warped world vision is front and center here, with the music mostly functioning as a context for it all and a mechanism for delivery. What's impressive is how well the formula works. With a sprawling piano and a propulsive beat, "Nothing Lasts" is Baroque mid-American post-punk; "Slaughterville" is average mid-tempo rock until Meade weighs in with his best take at an androgynous, exaggerated Janis Joplin howl; and the softer "Lovers Grow in the Park," with its lyrical ode to the quiet sadness of the average life, is strangely affecting. Blurring past at a brief seven tracks, Defenestration ultimately crashes in on itself before it runs out of steam, hopelessly impenetrable and better for it. ~ Steve May, Rovi