Goldfinger

Compared with its predecessor, Darrin's Coconut Ass, the title leaves a little something to be desired. The good news, though, is that the music doesn't. Here, longtime fans who lamented what by popular consensus was the premature abandonment of the band's ska leanings are treated instead to a full-throttle genre swing-a-thon. Opening track and first single "My Everything," for instance, careens through a tangle of jet-fueled guitars into the till-now solid wall dividing emo and post-punk, and album closer "Stalker" plumbs a quirky pop vein better associated with bands like Fountains of Wayne. Never mind the dips and swerves, though -- it works, and well enough to solidify this disc into something even the ska holdouts will deem worthy of repeat spins. Only the politically disenfranchised require advance warning: by the time the album is three-quarters done, an excess of loaded lyrics could prompt their permanent disconnection from the band, and without warning. ~ Tammy LaGorce, All Music Guide