On!Air!Library!

Album Review

New York City's On! Air! Library! create some stylish post-rock/experimental noise on their self-titled debut for Arena Rock. Twin sisters Claudia and Alley Deheza and Philip Wann each arrange their respective instruments — a menagerie of keyboards, samples, guitars, drum machines, and woodwinds — while sharing vocal duties on nine distinct songs. Each texture has its own sonic palette within a mood that's influenced by modern art and connected to a futuristic wave of sound. Imagine Bauhaus' "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" massaged by classic 4AD discord and you have the mysterious blend of On! Air! Library! Elements of dream pop, goth rock, space rock, and Brit-pop are filtered into downbeat grooves and songs such as the spooky drip-drops of "Fell to Earth," and the sepia-toned "Spaghetti Western Superstar [Randolph Scott Mix]" captures the trio's wild sonic imagination. Funkier, rough-edged drumbeats and guest drumming by Interpol's Sam Fogarino add to the jarring ambience of "Bambalance," but On! Air! Library! do more than craft an abrasive theatrical sound. Pop decadence is at its finest on "User28," the jazz-like hush of "I95" saunters around, and the gorgeous soundscape of the preceding "Bread" provides On! Air! Library!'s brightest moment. Layers of shimmering guitars, drenched percussion, and the Deheza sisters' heavenly voices make "Bread" worthy of being one of 2004's biggest pop moments. On! Air! Library! is one of 2004's rare mementos as well.