The Perfect Gift

It's nice to see a band like the Race taking the "Chicago sound" beyond trademark Tortoise rhythms and utilizing some no wave breakdowns and Joan of Arc skitter. "The Perfect Gift" takes these things and adds subtle bedroom electronics that are a definite product of the post-Kid A world. An experimental band this is not, however; traditional instruments, ragged emotions, and solid indie record collections drive the group through these 11 tracks. Drummer Kevin Duneman (Ativin, Telefon Tel Aviv) does add his avant inclination, and the result is a rock album with a very 21st century center and occasional arty icing. Sometimes, it also means that the more mainstream melodies fail to find the fluidity of their rhythmic base. Lead singer Craig Klein croons poetic nonsense like a quartertone-flat Tim Buckley, an endearing quality over the turgid, math-y buildups like that of "The Perfect Gift for Your Little Hunter." Equal time is spent on mid-tempo, delay-build guitar tracks like "Not Like Riding a Bike," songs that would have been called emo in the late '90s but are now simply "introspective" and "pretty." Between these extremes lies the best Race, something struggling to get free from all the notes, time changes, and almost-reached high pitches that dominate this ambitious album.