White Trash Heroes
Ever since their 1993debut, Archers of Loaf have served up fiesty slack anthems for the indie-rock set. OnWhite Trash Heroes, they add keyboards and double the decibels. The result is dense and chewy, with "One Slight Wrong Move" doing a dance with the ghost of Styx's "Mr. Roboto" and their anthem "I.N.S." presaging the future of arena rock. The title cut and "Dead Red Eyes" lean heavily on the electronic embellishment for more of that spooky stuff à la the piano ballads they toyed with on their previous release,All the Nation's Airports. Frontman Eric Bachmann's David Byrne-esque delivery is alternately spitting on and shining upWhite Trash Heroes, as though he can't stand the songs he's singing but his contempt makes it cool. Like Pavement and the Pixies, Archers' songs take a few listens before the breadth of their scrawl is completely appreciated.--Jason Josephes