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VALENDE
(Sub Pop)
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The previous studio album from Jennifer Gentle (a band, not a girl), 2002’s Funny Creatures Lane, was a bit like a particularly offputting acid test. Using the "less-intelligible-vocals-is-more" approach, the Italian duo crafted an amalgam of fuzzily produced, rambling psychedelic tracks with mixed results. But vocalist/guitarist Marco Fasolo and drummer Alessio Gastaldello have harnessed the shrieking that characterized Funny Creatures Lane and beefed up the atmospheric hooks on Valende. The druggy haze has been replaced by clarion melodies, and the lyrics are — most of the time — decipherable, though that doesn’t always clarify Fasolo’s message. (Try finding the deep meaning in a line like the oft-repeated "Nothing makes sense when you walk.") On this largely down-tempo album, most of the tunes are propelled by a folksy tandem of acoustic guitars while layered touches like jangling glockenspiel, harmonium, and bowed electric guitar ("Circles of Sorrow") create an æthereal backdrop for Fasolo’s vocals. There are still a few jolting moments of silliness — the frantic handclaps and kazoos of "I Do Dream You"; the frightening repetition of "yee ha!" that punctuates "Nothing Makes Sense." But the standout track, "Liquid Coffee," with its tick-tock beat and otherworldly background vocals, suggests that Jennifer Gentle have learned the less-can-be-more lesson, or at least that the best head trips aren’t roller-coaster rides but woozy magic-carpet glides. (Jennifer Gentle join Dead Meadow next Saturday, March 26, at Great Scott, 1222 Commonwealth Avenue in Allston; call 617-734-4502.)
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