Parts & Labor- “Constant Future”
From their album Constant Future

The Parts & Labor album that came out last week is the first of theirs that I’ve really liked. It’s not quite as noisy as their previous records, and it kind of sounds like a less proggy and conflicted version of Wolf Parade. The vocals usually have reverb that makes them sound at one remove from the bludgeoning guitar and punch-drunk drums.

It’s a weird critique of a band to say that your favorite part of their songs is the endings, but that’s true for this trio. The title track ends with a graceful unraveling, while others stop with an abrupt but cleansing cord-pull. Only the great bands focus so much on the last note of a song. You know “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”? It has a great opening line, but that white flag of a descending slide that owns the last second of it? That’s what makes it unforgettable. Today’s Brooklyn has a lot of Soundgardens and a lot of Stone Temple Pilots, but it doesn’t have many Smashing Pumpkins.