Riot For Romance!

RESTOCK. No Knife's music is impossible to pigeonhole -- their sound can be many things. At points their rock is driving and angular, Mitch's plaintive voice matching the dissonant guitar beat for beat. They show an understanding of song craft that clearly leaves most of their contemporaries in the dust. Meanwhile, their ballads show an unerring ear for melody. There is also a haunting, melancholy texture to the instrumentals that bears repeated listens.

Hook filled without giving in to the clichés of pop, the songs on "Riot For Romance!" are perfect showcases for the band's stark, oft times disjointed arrangements, something for every mood. It's a true album, in the classic style, with ebbs and flows, and a sensibility to the running order. (Sequencing is a lost art.) But through its layers of guitars, distortion, and reverb, lies some truly memorable music, clearly destined for many a year-end top ten list.