XMMER

Arriving a little over a year and a half after His Name Is Alive's long-awaited comeback Detrola, Xmmer follows in that album's footsteps - in fact, "Go to Hell Mountain" is a sequel to Detrola's "I Thought I Saw You Moving." Once again, it sounds like all of the band's previous albums rolled into one, although a die-hard fan could get really geeky and say that more of Ft. Lake, Mouth by Mouth, and Home Is in Your Head's influences stand out this time. The biggest difference is that sometime His Name Is Alive singer Lovetta Pippen doesn't make an appearance; while she is missed, Xmmer is still a shining example of the group's singular pop. Even if Xmmer's kaleidoscopic approach is similar to what His Name Is Alive has done before, that doesn't make it any less appealing or unique on its own terms.