Fond of Tigers
Release the Saviours (Drip Audio)

I never really know how to review instrumental music. I like pop and rock, which is basically music for idiots, and always feel I'm missing the point when I listen to anything without words. With Release the Saviours, I am reduced to weird-sounding adjectives–skronky, for one–to try and describe, say, "Pemberdunn Maple Wolfs", which eventually dissipates into a freeform jazz odyssey.

I'm more comfortable with facts, like Release the Saviours is the second full-length from the band. For this record, the group is composed of seven players, including guitarist Stephen Lyons, violinist Jesse Zubot, and trumpet player JP Carter. Release the Saviours has seven tracks (if you count the last one, "Just Married", which is really just one and a half minutes of silence interrupted by a two-second noise burst). Three of the tunes go over the 10-minute mark, which is bad news for people who find anything longer than three minutes nearly impossible to pay attention to. And "Born Again Ready", with its scratchy violin noises and squelchy sounds, will never be heard on Grey's Anatomy. Other than that, the disc is everything a record of "off-kilter jazz, ambient sound sculpture, [and] abstract improvisation" (thank you, press release) should be.