Never Let Them Catch You Crying

More Dogs' second album starts with a brief, atmospheric semi-instrumental that sounds like the scene-setting introduction to an album by some arty neo-folk group like the Palace Brothers or Songs: Ohia. But instead of the expected Son of Wilco bit of alt-country the title track primes the listener for, track two (the excellently titled "Duty. Duty? Duty.") is an atmospheric, soundtrack-like meditation for vibraphone and organ. By the time the increasingly erratic herky-jerky percussion and start-stop rhythm of "Teenage Bunker" comes along, it's clear that Never Let Them Catch You Crying is an album that ignores the conventional indie rule book. Each track is instrumental, ranging from the clanky, Deerhoof-like experimentalism of "Overeater Underwater" to the just plain odd "March to the Scaffold," which is built around a series of organ riffs, each repeated several times and then discarded, to the accompaniment of more vibes and a bunch of comical percussion accents that sound like they came out of an old Raymond Scott 78. Then the whole thing ends with a quirky, disjointed "rocker" that recalls Henry Cow or the Rock in Opposition scene of the late '70s. It's all quite weird, though perhaps not quite as weird as the band might think, but for the most part, Never Let Them Catch You Crying is appealing and musically attractive enough to maintain the listener's interest. ~ Stewart Mason|