Enterprising Sidewalks

First-wave Slumberland Records band Lorelei is back with their first new album since 1994's Everyone Must Touch the Stove. In their '90s heyday, the Washington, DC-based three-piece (Matt Dingee on guitar, Stephen Gardner on bass and Davis White on drums) earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most unique outfits around, with a very distinctive blend of post-rock dynamics, sneakily melodic songwriting and ear-blasting guitar noise. Finding kinship with groups as disparate as Whorl, the Swirlies, Laika, Bailter Space and Lilys, Lorelei make records as subtle and multi-layered as their live show is aggressive and memorably powerful. Enterprising Sidewalks picks right up where Lorelei left off, serving up ten gorgeously complex exercises in pummeling rhythms and melodic abstraction. Produced by the band with Ben Bailes (Chessie), with additional recording by Archie Moore (Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine) and mixing by Guy Fixsen (My Bloody Valentine, Moose, Laika), the new album is a deep and intricately produced listen. Tunes like "Hammer Meets Tongs" and "Sorry for the Patience" are as rich with rhythmic twists and melodic intrigue as their very best material, and Dingee's guitar attack is as varied as ever, ranging from ringing harmonics to shredding feedback, often within the same verse.