International Affairs

Album Review

Dan Owens and Josie Fluri were in the angular rock outfit Register before departing Denver for Orlando and creating New Roman Times. International Affairs still has an early-'90s indie sensibility — harsh guitars often ring alongside tension wire melodies — but New Roman Times always work to craft a more dynamic sound. They integrate keyboard and electronic percussion add-ons, use Fluri's calming vocal as a foil to Owens' hyper upper-register wail, and keep the songs structurally unpredictable. "Absolute Beginners," for example, is a jagged sort of ballad — giant drums crash and alter speed as the guitars uncover urgency in the spiny progression and Owens works through a relationship in the second person. Modest Mouse feels like a touchstone for this and other tracks on International Affairs ("Reversion Therapy"; "Consequences"). But this is because both groups like to keep their melodies challenging. "Dis-Viscount" has a standard punchy backbeat, but Owens' voice echoes ever higher to drive it to a unique place. Fluri takes the lead for the first half of the elastic, gently-layered "Going Away Gift," while on "Scene From the Disco Era" she plays off Owens and a great arrangement that suggests vintage Archers of Loaf. Overall it's a solid debut for New Roman Times. They understand that hooks are always just a terse guitar lick away.