Amnesia - "Lingus"

Lingus is the linchpin to Brad Laner's career. Stylistic elements that had come before (his time with Savage Republic, Medicine, and Lusk) and what was to come after (Electric Company and the reformulated Medicine of 2003) are present here, both fully formed in some aspects, others still embryonic. Medicine's distorted-beyond-belief guitars, Electric Company's laptop glitch experiments, and Lusk's pop experimentation are all granted equal time, with varying degrees of success. The album is a step away from the previous Amnesia album, Cherry Flavor Night Time, in that the guitars are turned down and are replaced by the electronic hiccups of the Electric Company Plays Amnesia album. Lingus features Beck on harmonica on one track, but otherwise, it's pretty much a one-man show, with the exception of the appearance of Brad Laner's brother Josh on drums, the Glendale Hypothetical Chamber Orchestra, and former Medicine bass player Justin Meldal-Johnsen on several tracks. The music is schizophrenic, with moods jumping between tracks, like the jazzy interlude "The Sensual Corgi," which leads into the distorted guitars of "Handful of Flies," or the melancholia of "Mind Your Head" leading into the wah-wah fuzz of "Turtle Song."

But, and here's the rub, the album is just not memorable. It is enjoyable and engaging (even rocking at times) when it is playing, but there is not much here that resonates beyond the immediate experience of listening to it. And that must ultimately classify this album as a less-than-successful experiment, one for the punters.

2.5 stars