Luxury

Luxury, the Nein's first full-length album without bassist Casey Burns, finds the band branching out even farther from their previous, spiky-yet-atmospheric sound than they did on the Transitionalisms EP. Dale Flattum's sonic maniupulations and flights of fancy used to be doodles in the corners of the Nein's songs, but now they're just as important as the rest of the band's singing and playing, adding substance as well as depth and texture. Even tracks such as "Radical Chic," "Burn Construction," and "Achilles Last Tape Solo," which have the bouncy, angular sound of The Nein and Wrath of Circuits, have a dose of mystery and unpredictability, thanks to Flattum's increased contributions. For most of Luxury, the Nein manages to balance the change in their song-to-noise ratio well and come up with some intriguing combinations along the way. "Sweet Vague" invents breezy, brooding, robotic bossa nova; "Attitude and Mirrors" pits crashing beats against a wistful acoustic guitar; and "The Future Crumbles" touches on the album's paranoid feel with apocalyptic singalong folktronica. And on "Journalist 1" and "Journalist 2," which turn radio static, junkyard percussion, and delicate guitars into a pair of surprisingly subtle songs, the Nein dives into previously uncharted but oddly pretty territory. As Luxury unfolds, it becomes more and more experimental, with mixed results. "Ennio," a Morricone-inspired soundscape, is a standout, as is the wittily named cut-and-paste of "Decollage." However, the meandering "Wreck-We-Um-Dub" slows the album's momentum, and the tracks that follow don't quite recover it. Fortunately, most of the risks the Nein takes on Luxury pay off, and when they do, the tension between their experimental and pop sides make for pleasantly challenging listening.