Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I was almost gonna pack it up when I listened to the first couple of tracks off of TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL, the debut CD from Audiocrash. Part of it was my own fault; the cover which bears the image of a guitar modified to look like an assault rifle (or, perhaps, vice versa) seemed to promise a heavy metal assault. Those hoping for such should best look elsewhere, not that TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL doesn’t rock out in spots; it does. These guys --- Craig the musician and Guy the writer and singer --- aren’t exactly devil worshippers, Guy’s history as a psychobilly band frontman notwithstanding, but they hit the mark more often than not, resulting in a fairly memorable if somewhat uneven freshman effort.

The problem here is that three of the weakest tracks on TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL are the ones that open the desk. I started writing a review, full of snide remarks about expired shelf life and the like, when “Otherwise” came on, forcing me to sit back and pay closer attention to what was going on. While “My Fault,” “I Can’t Feel You Any More,” and “Because” sound like Americana overcooked and overwrought, the majority of the rest of the disc cooks quite nicely. Reference point on such tracks as “Everyday” and “Life Line” would be mid-period U2, though Audiocrash wisely does not attempt to channel Bono, The Edge, et al. The echoes of the style are there but the material is original, kind of Celtic-tinged around the periphery and Americanized in the center.

Amazingly enough, the track that surprises and even delights here is an instrumental titled “Leprechauns’ Waltz,” which certainly had the potential to be cute and/or obnoxious, but isn’t not at all. It’s actually a great deal of fun, and I think that if Audiocrash took a few more left of center chances like this material wise there would be even more to recommend with them. I get the feeling that the duo is still kind of feeling their way around the partnership; perhaps with a bit more collaboration and loosening up just a bit (word has it that they are in the middle of recording a sophomore effort) the quality of their material might be a bit more consistent; TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL isn’t a bad effort; it just leaves one wishing and hoping for a little bit more of the good stuff.