Distortion heavy, lo-fi 70's acid/garage rock kings Comets on Fire create a brilliant (if spastic) fuzzy epic in Blue Cathedral, their newest offering from SubPop. The five piece combine traditional instruments with spots of horns, electronic pitch bends, and vocal echos into a bizarrely beautiful piece with an unnatural flow; without glancing at your cd player, you may have difficulty distinguishing between tracks (which is definitely part of it's charm). It has the feel of accomplished improv, strung together into a cohesive, multi-genre work of monstrous proportions.

The 70's rock vocals seem out of place against the chaotic and dissonant guitars and electro-noise, and the engineering is so lo-fi that it sounds like it was recorded with three mics in a room. That said, the Bay area band's third full-length is riddled with complex rhythms, ranging from mind-crushing, fast changing crunch guitars to acid rock melodies that will leave you in a trance. There is a lot to like on this album; this is a prime example of the cutting edge music we have looked to Sub Pop for in the past.

To sum up, this is excellent chaotic stoner rock. Fans of mellow, melodic indie music with clear, intelligible vocals may want to steer clear; but if you like your rock crunchy, loud, and written by ADD kids on too much coffee (and listening to too much early Sabbath), than this is definitely the record for you.

-Dave Mandell