Last Train Out,
Upsilon Acrux's third installment of knotty, angular prog rock, clocks in at 34 minutes but is filled with enough ideas to easily flesh out a CD twice that length. The focus here is on composition rather than improvisation (of which there is little-to-none this time around), with the band pushing at the limits of what a rock band can do with drums, electric guitars, bass, and some keyboards (though they're used less here than on previous releases). Tracks such as """The Wack Art Deception""" and """The Three in Five""" further establish
Upsilon Acrux's complex, spastic, yet robotic style as something distinct from its varied predecessors --
King Crimson,
Massacre,
Don Caballero,
Henry Cow, -- and showcase the band's interplay with its best stop-on-a-dime tightness. Meanwhile, the quieter, yet still challenging """Propeller,""" with its studiously interwoven guitar/harmonics display, finds the band carving out new sonic territory for itself. This is an impressive release, but it's far from pop music, and is best left recommended to serious-minded listeners.