Sybris

8.0 on Pitchfork! Sybris's sound is a fusion of ambient art rock, '80s heavy metal and, oddly enough, folk. Dual guitars interlock with a powerful bass backbone, all driven by swirling and lifting drums. To complete it, there's Angela Mullenhour's acrobatic voice that acts as the band's two-headed catalyst -- she has the ability to either ground their sonic chaos or run the whole thing right off the rails. At times, the kinetic Sybris sound invokes Slayer fronted by Edie Brickell (the tail end of "Blame It On the Baseball") and at others it feels more like the lovechild of Belly and Swervedriver ("Best Day In History In Ever"). The band even manages to produce songs that could have wound up on the album of an imagined My Bloody Pixies supergroup ("Neon" and "Breathe Like You're Dancing"). "Sybris's 'Breathe Like You're Dancing' effectively combines shoegazer guitars with punk drums and a vocalist who has the voice Courtney Love has been trying to emulate for a decade -- it's rough, melodic and vulnerable." -- Philip Stone, Splendid Ezine "Like their musical ancestors My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins and Lush, Sybris is emotive and aggressive, catchy and dissonant, cacophonous and pure." -- UR Chicago