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FORGET TOMORROW
(Jetset)
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On their first two albums, this band from Athens seemed intent on investing the formal building blocks of classic American indie rock — artless vocals, inexactly sculpted guitar squall, willfully drag-ass tempos — with the sort of sonic adventurism a well-stocked college-radio music library might fuel: gamelan drone, Asian clang, otherworldly psychedelia, krautrock throb. They wrote recognizable songs, but they always seemed as concerned with texture and tone as they were with the tunes themselves — an admirable trait in non-electronic indie rock. Forget Tomorrow, however, finds them succumbing to the danceable, neo-new-wave trend that’s swept through the underground: "Smash & Grab," "(Do the) Inevitable," and the opening title track all pulse with pneumatic bass lines and nimble hi-hat action over which steel-wool guitars scratch at eerie, pregnant chords that suggest classic Talking Heads. And though it’s gratifying to hear the band give their sonic explorations some tactile shape (especially in "D-d-d" and "No Surprise Party"), that comes at the expense of some of their headphones-friendly adventurism: in place of challenging exotic textures, several cuts here are larded with little more than chintzy keyboard pre-sets and shallow post-rock riffs. (Macha perform this Tuesday, September 14, upstairs at the Middle East, 472 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square, with the Arrangement and Mahjongg; call 617-864-EAST.)
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