Back when Githead released their first EP in 2004, I had no sense that the band would become such a long-running concern. A collaboration between the husband-and-wife duo Colin Newman (Wire) and Malka Spigel (Minimal Compact), and Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), it looked like a quick one-off. But it had its own sound, albeit one reminiscent of both Wire and very early Stereolab-- driving rhythms, strong basslines, distorted and compressed guitars, and understated vocals. With a few minor adjustments, that sound is still here on album three. Githead have expanded to include former Minimal Compact drummer Max Franken, and Spigel has gradually edged past Newman to become the primary voice of the band. On Landing, she handles most of the lead vocals, and though her singing style blends into the music as another part of the texture, she's a welcome contrast to the guitars, which frequently gray out in a wash of digital distortion.
A modest vocalist, Spigel doesn't get many showcase moments; the closest is "Ride", a nice change of pace that slows the tempo, dials back the density of the guitars, and focuses on her sung-spoken, Belgian-accented lyrics. Newman gets in his best vocal on the following song, "Over the Limit", which has the archetypal Githead backing track: guitars smearing across the bar lines, frantic, nimble drumming, and a staccato bass part backing a classic even-toned Newman rant. He gets more melodic on "Before Tomorrow", which stands out for possessing one of the few real choruses on the album. If there's anything Githead need, it's more variety in approach-- most of their material falls into two broad categories: Malka songs and Colin songs.
The opening instrumental track, "Faster", falls into neither category. It has no melody to speak of and comes off more like a summary of the band's peculiar groove than anything else. The droning effect of the guitars-- all that static strumming-- might be more effective if they didn't sound so rounded-off and sanded down into a blur. It saps the life out of the songs, which come off more drab than they should-- when the band coasts into the end of "Lightswimmer", the whole thing just sounds like mud. Any [#script:http://pitchfork.com/media/backend/js/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js]|||||| one who's enjoyed Githead's output to this point will find things to like here, but it will take a creative jolt for them to avoid making the same album yet again.
