Senor Boombox

Album Review

The Disco Biscuits' fourth studio album, Señor Boombox, is an eclectic mix of jam band songwriting approaches, all realized with a sparkling (sometimes antiseptic) studio precision. The album is not without its charm. Guitarist Jon Gutwillig's two contributions, "Jigsaw Earth" and "Hope," are both soaringly beautiful. Sam Altman's "Sound One" is a cartoonishly complex miniature epic. The album is framed by a pair of excursions into the organic style of electronic music the band focused on across 2001's They Missed the Perfume, "Float Like a Butterfly" and an aimlessly ambient unlabeled bonus track. More confusing are the sound effects tracks that serve as preludes to a number of songs. At first, they would seem to act as segues between tracks, but they begin too abruptly to serve as transitions. The album is a joy through headphones, though sometimes the band's embellishments seem a little bit too much, such as the hideous gospel peak of "The Tunnel" and the over-the-top guitar wanking that caps "Floes." The band's forced attitude on the faux-Beastie Boys "Floodlights" (and to a lesser extent, "Triumph") is charming, but can wear quickly.