This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)

Album Review

Chevelle's 1999 debut delighted in darkening the spaces between quiet and jagged scrawl. Peter Loeffler's guitar periodically tore away from the rhythm section's steadying wires, effectively lessening the brotherly trio's reliance on old Tool albums for influence and pace. Then the boys signed with Epic, which naturally trashed the majority of the interesting noise in favor of amplifying Chevelle's Tool-light tendencies. Hit singles followed ("The Red," "Send the Pain Below"), so you can't fully fault the label. Not surprisingly, it's that same sound trudging determinedly through This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In). "Get Some" and "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" switch on a gravelly guitar conveyor, powering it with plodding bass and percussion, and Loeffler sings with hurt urgency over it, sounding exactly like Maynard Keenan, down to the very inflection. Typical phrases singe the ends of his wrangling power-chord punctuations — "A black out/Touching new life," "The panic makes remorse." The songs are strong dynamically, even if they sound a bit predetermined for general loud rock acceptance. The same goes for the majority of This Type of Thinking. "Panic Prone" is a departure, revisiting the softer contours of "Send the Pain," and "Another Know It All" lets the rhythm section mix it up a little, even if it makes Chevelle sound like Korn instead of Tool. In general, This Type of Thinking should roundly please fans of Wonder What's Next.