Black Moth Super Rainbow

Ramshackle electro-psych collective Black Moth Super Rainbow first came to wider recognition with 2007's Dandelion Gum. Having dosed that record with some of the most psychotropic beat-driven sounds this side of Edan's fractured hip-hop masterwork Beauty and the Beat, Black Moth would seem perfectly matched with renowned studio maestro Dave Fridmann (the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) for its follow up, Eating Us. While the new record offers tasty hooks and delectable sonic cloudscapes — "Dark Bubbles" and "The Sticky" stand out — the anarchic unpredictability that made Dandelion Gum such a joy takes a holiday on Eating Us.

"Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise" opens the disc promisingly with a muscular boom-bap beat driving a haze of Fender Rhodes, soaring synthesizers, and flange-heavy vocoder. The robotic vocals once served as a single element of an elaborate electronic tapestry, but on Eating, they dominate the mix. This mechanical monotony isn't helped by the consistently sleepy, slow-to-midtempo rhythms the band employs throughout the record.

Eating Us isn't a complete failure, but it also doesn't approach the inspired Mellotron madness Black Moth Super Rainbow once proved it was capable of creating.