Electrelane is not the kind of band that releases the same album twice. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to name a band that makes more dramatic jumps from album to album without diverting from a basic guitar-bass-drums setup. These four ladies have been leaping back and forth between post-punk singles and drawn out instrumentals since the beginning of their career, and it appears that they’ve returned to pop songwriting, filling their fourth album No Shouts, No Calls with eleven melodic tracks that emphasize harmony more than feedback, grace more than aggression. “The Greater Times” makes that clear right off the bat, beginning the album with one of the prettiest songs the group has written to date. “After the Call” rocks a little harder, but maintains a moodiness that eluded some of Axes’ more revved-up tracks. Yet when the group settles into ethereal mode, creating a beautiful, haunting dream pop song like “In Berlin,” they prove just how unnecessary distortion really is.
~ Jeff Terich
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