Karate: Pockets

Two albums removed from their coming out party as a jazz band, these guys have brought in the drama. This album is almost verging on theater in its pretension. Now, I love pretension in my music. Why else would I listen to Destroyer for hours on end? But now each song feels like its own little play, each with its own little piece of showmanship. It’s a majestically professional sounding album—which isn’t always the best thing in my book. I do like rough edges, and this one has very few. It certainly feels like a final album, which is what it is (minus some live and weirdo label albums). They seem like they’ve taken the jazz rock thing to its logical conclusion, without treading over old ground, but at the point where anything more would overstay its welcome. Despite its sheen, catchy pop-ish tunes and solid musicianship, I still prefer Unsolved for its sheer coolness factor.