Ready To Receive

Loyalty can get you into a fine mess. Out of the post-euphoric haze over early '90s British icons like The Stone Roses or Ride, there have been a number of monstrosities. The Seahorses, Hurricane #1, Oasis, any one of these "I guess they'll have to do" projects still causes even the most fanatical of older fans to flee in disenchantment. The fact that The Animalhouse seems comfortably removed from such narcoleptic pub-rock might help these loyalists finally take their hands away from their eyes. Truly, much of the long-awaited Ready to Receive avoids the treasured shoegazing bent, yet its stuttering, electronic, feel-good formula at least sounds like it belongs in the present day instead of a '60s bargain bin. As in "Sunday Driver" or "Always Be," the sunny-sided melodies are threaded with a rhythmic, dance-inspired needle, and even better, as in "Essence," an (admittedly) out-dated breakbeat backbone keeps the album pumping along with more than just a memorization of Beatles tabs. This retro-future idea only occasionally sounds inept. When they try to bare their teeth ("Animal") or just go off into odd "Girl From Ipanema" bridges ("Small"), one gets the distinct impression of a blooping and bleeping version of Cast. Still, when put against the lineup of their peers, The Animalhouse seems to have come out relatively innocent. Ready to Receive's naïve "updated" perspective is at least a start. Because as fans have been asking themselves ever since their favorite bands' deaths: who can really predict what their idols will be free to do once they discovered music made past 1991? At this rate, fans should be thrilled by the year 2005. ~ Dean Carlson|