ABINSTHE BLIND
MUSIC FOR SECURITY
(HAMMERHEAD RECORDS)

www.parasol.com

Epic baroque pop is not a contradiction in terms. Absinthe Blind is living proof of that. This shimmering and atmospheric third album from the Champaign band is able to evoke the cavernous passages of big music that the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen, U2, Waterboys, Radiohead, Embrace and the Verve have headily passed through.

Spine chilling and stirring, these uplifting songs speak to the soul with their channels of grandiose sound and pompous fury.

Songs like the swampy "Don’t Lose the Image," widescreen "Standing With Knives," grungy "Sandpaper Straight" and Celtic "Three Hours Later" dissect rock clichés and mold them into exciting new shapes. Not satisfied in tapping one bulbous vein, Absinthe Blind are equally adept at mining the softer, milder, acoustic and austere flavours with "Giving Up The Crown," "No Sound" and "Man After You".

If ambition and vigor are the qualities you look for in your dose of pop-rock gratification, Absinthe Blind pretty much fits the bill. B+