MP3: NEI - 40 rabbits
Flattery will get you everywhere: seeing my name (or even just It's a Trap!) in an album's thank-you list is a surefire way to put a smile on my face. So thank you to NEI for making my day a little brighter. However, it's not as if I'd be tempted otherwise; I've been looking forward to their album for a long, long time and can confidently say that they deliver as-expected. As said before, these guys make the sort of quality angular rock'n'roll that dudes like me in their 30s and above still recall with extreme fondness. Still, I have a friend complain that he thought NEI were a bit lazy sounding, especially when you consider that these dudes formerly played with monster acts such as Brick, Breach and Fireside. While I understand his point, let me counter with "40 rabbits": a rager of a track that recalls those bands' finer moments. Patrik Instedt's vocals are especially maniacal here as he recalls a story that's as confusing to his own (fictional) experience, as it is for the listening. Blood, rabbits, an empty room, the woods, an abandoned car...? It's a distressing portrait. I like it.
NEI - 40 rabbits