Seachange
Lay of the Land
(Matador)
Seachange’s debut for the influential Matador Records finds the Nottingham, UK sextet mixing wall-of-sound guitars, searing violin and an enigmatic lyric-spitting vocalist, Dan Eastop, in an erratic display of songwriting. If Lay of the Land maintained the level of intensity exhibited in the tracks “Superfuck,” “Forty Nights” and “Do It Again,” it would kick your ass all over town. But instead, there are a few too many moments where the band seems unsure about its true identity.
—Dave Hayden