Audio By Carbonatix
On the de facto title track of Ten Tiers’ latest, group leader Jonathan Tiersten sings about slipping “into the comforts of drunkenness” — an appropriate phrase, given the intriguingly woozy, off-kilter tenor of the EP as a whole. The disc stumbles at times, but somehow manages to remain upright.
Take “I’m Alone”: Even though the main body of the tune edges toward whininess, the track is saved by a bizarre middle section featuring heavier guitar work by Glen Esparza and Chris Childress and double-tracked vocals that juxtapose spoken-word intonations with wailed non sequiturs such as “Shadows!” and “Touch me!” And if “Surface Feelings” represents the sort of emotional nakedness that probably should have been covered with a towel, it’s preceded by “How to Love You,” a swirling rocker that shows off the band’s myriad strengths.
At its best, Ten Tiers’ music can be intoxicating. The key is to know when to say when.
