Let It Rest

Album Review

There's no doubt about it: the 1990s were indie rock's decade. But since its heyday, many of the groups who helped define the sound of the genre have either fragmented or continued to evolve. As the scene itself has split off into finely pointed sub-sections, there has been a move by some contemporary groups to reaccess the halcyon days of the indie sound. Sorry About Dresden is just such a group. Nebraskans Matt Oberst (vocals/guitar) and Matt Tomich (bass) even chose Chapel Hill, NC — longtime hotbed of indie rock — as their base of operations. The move might not have had anything to do with the city's musical history, but it creates a nice parallel for the influences that weave their way through Let It Rest, Sorry About Dresden's March 2003 release. From the raucous, manic pop guitar line of opener "Beds and Lawns" to "This House Unhomed"'s chiming guitars and sardonic, overly dramatic vocals suggesting the Wedding Present, Dresden would have likely fit right into their adopted hometown's scene circa 1995. None of this is to suggest that Let It Rest is a bad album; on the contrary, it realizes many of the sounds that filled the band's previous output. Tempering the more rocking moments of Let It Rest are touches of pedal steel and organ that again suggest indie's ability to lay a grid across numerous genres, and draw from all of them at once.