NOW PLAYING: Blank Dogs, ‘Phrases’ (Captured Tracks, 2010)

The Details: Blank Dogs, Phrases EP (Captured Tracks, 2010)

A Quick Review: Hey, where did all the feedback & fuzz go? And what’s up with Mike Sniper’s vocals? They’re so…clean. Come to think of it, “Racing Backwards” is basically a circuit-bending ballad, and “Blurred Tonight” might as well be tucked between the Cure and some old Slumberland band on a mixtape entitled C87.

These are all good things, signs that Sniper’s relative silence in the past six months–compared to his steady stream of 2008/2009 releases–may be leading to his most fully-realized record yet. While we’ve been told to expect an album in late summer, this’ll do for now, and if you just can’t get enough, Blank Dogs also has a new cassingle available digitally here.