23

23 is Blonde Redhead’s seventh full length and their second since the release of The Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, the album that saw them emerging from the fractured, noise oriented demi-monde of New York avant-rock, and into the world of lushly progressive, sweetly off-kilter indie-pop. 23 finds Blonde Redhead collaborating with alterna-rock super producer Alan Moulder who reins in their more abrasive tendencies with decidedly mixed results. Though the icy, austerely beautiful textures of “Publisher” are as satisfying as anything the band's ever produced, the grandiose electro of “Spring and By Summer Fall” comes off as awkward and forced. Ultimately though Amedo Pace’s skewed guitar playing and Kazu Mikano’s seductively ethereal vocals prove to be 23’s saving graces. Whenever things become too polished, Mikano emerges with her soothingly indecipherable croon, or Pace intervenes with a startlingly inventive guitar line to recapture the otherworldly beauty that Blonde Redhead are so justly admired for.