Beginning with "Flower Gardens," Skelliconnection is an immediate surprise. The title is innocuous enough--with a name invoking thoughts of sunny pastoral landscapes, we expect something gentle and soothing. Ha! CVG fools us, though, because this song is all thundering drums, punky guitars, and stuttery vocals, with a driving chorus--"I know it's all going to end."   Surprises like this are a theme through Skelliconnection, taking the best, most fluid, dreamy parts of the first album (please see: "Graveyard") and combining them with kinetic bursts of energy, full of synths and pounding rhythms. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, CVG knows how to let loose and "rock out," for lack of a better term, even if the lyrics are full of unsettling paranoia, weariness, and even vampires--"sharpened teeth that dive deep into veins"- on the crisp, cool, slinky and synth-y "Red Hot Drops."

CVG's voice is so incredibly heartfelt in its wavery tones that the listener cannot help but be entranced as he tells his stories. Mid-Skelliconnection wonder "Wing Finger" is one of the most unconventionally pretty love songs you're likely to hear--delicately plucky, and with CVG as his own backing vocals, simple words like "pterodactyls/abandoned pianos/your stepdad's bongo drums/the snails that live inside aquariums" become something shimmery and lovely.

Skelliconnection is a wonder to behold (and to hear) from start to finish - quirky, sweet, anthemic, lovingly crafted, and most importantly, entirely unique. The good label SubPop has done it again, releasing another album that makes the list of favorites (right next to beloved BoH) in 2006.

s. :: [ August of '06 ]