Role Of Smith

Tabula Rasa was thrown into the emo ghetto by careless critics -- and to be fair, that wasn't a completely unreasonable reaction; the band gained national attention for its contribution to the Emo Diaries, Vol. 7 album on the Deep Elm label. But its debut full-length, The Role of Smith, finds Tabula Rasa working in more of a post-punk/math rock vein, with more than a nod toward standard indie guitar rock. Song titles like "More Words Than Not" and "Are We in Our Nations Capitol?" might lead you to expect a certain level of preciousness and pretension, but these four guys are too busy rocking out for stuff like that. Sure, "Are We in Our Nations Capitol?" teeters on a crazy-legs 7/4 rhythm, the instrumental "The Eating Contest" is about three minutes too long at six, and "If You Kill Me, I'll Never Know" alternates layers of off-kilter guitar licks with more spiky rhythmic experimentation. But everything is delivered in such an unabashed spirit of enthusiasm and abandon that it never sounds affected or self-conscious. A real melody or two might have been nice, but who's counting? Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson