[music] Assassins

There's a huge buzz about these guys, and on the surface, it's easy to see why. The five piece band features lots of electronics and samples, many played live by the band's drummer, two lead vocalists (one male, one female) and two backup vocalists for some thick harmonies, a twin guitar attack, and a good sense of how to fit it all together. The result is a massively textured sound akin to some of the louder shoegazer bands of the 80s, but with a healthy dose of recent Radiohead mixed in, and maybe even a little post-rock a la Tortoise. On stage, they are accompanied by a multimedia screen mixing various images with three cameras positioned on various microphone stands, and all the band members have considerable rock star poise.

Yet, I can't help feeling a little empty after hearing them. Not quite the empty calories of pop music, but a similar sensation. It's like you peel all the layers of sound, and you find that there isn't a song in the middle of it. Which isn't to say texture as an end itself can't be satisfying, but with this particular group, I want to remember the songs when I leave the building. While I'm starting to get a better grasp the more I see them live, I'm still struggling to find something to hold on to.