Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lose

I still hate the name of this band. Granted it’s better than Diarrhea Planet, Ugly Kid Joe or 4 Non Blondes. But barely. Luckily their music is way better than their moniker. I’m not really sure how to describe it other than a weird mashup of early Jane’s Addiction, Trail of Dead and The Replacements. I mean, holy shit, right? Right! I know you’re wondering how those three things could live in the same universe. And you’d be right to question, as it sounds super-bizarre. But, trust me, it’s not. They borrow from these bands — or at least they sound like it to my tone-deaf ass — but still manage to sound unlike all of them. As promised, they are all about the guitars and the cymbals. Whether one is eating the other or being eaten by the former (or is it the latter?) is beyond me, but their almost proggy approach to their complicated, but simple, Titus Andronicus by way of The Wrens’ Jersey brand of rock music shows that indie music can still make a six-minute song that isn’t a spiraling EDM wank or self-indulgent hissing mess. Writing music is hard, I’d imagine. And writing music that is both interesting and listenable is especially difficult. Usually it’s one or the other. With Cymbals Eat Guitars, you can have your cymbal and eat it too.