With sixth studio full-length
Wild Type Droid, Los Angeles space grunge trio
Failure change their formula somewhat, taking their sound to new places without ever straying too far from the core elements that have made them stand out since the early '90s.
Wild Type Droid is the band's third album after reuniting in 2013 following a lengthy hiatus, and as often as the album delivers plodding, bass-driven slabs of dynamic rock in keeping with their best-loved material, it also offers up songs that strip away some of the haze and come at the arrangements from new angles. A bristly, minimal groove serves as the foundation for "Headstand," making space for choruses to take off with heavily effected guitar tones and lifts in
Ken Andrew's double-tracked vocal melodies. The song breaks down completely for a moment into a microcosm of celestial guitar ambience before the band kicks back in. "Submarines" is also a more uptempo reading of
Failure's riff-heavy side, sliding in and out of restrained grooves and dramatic choruses. The group's signature balance of dissonance and melody is on full display in songs like "Mercury Mouth" and "Long Division," though each employs different tempos and structures. "Bring Back the Sound" and "Half Moon" stand out as some of the biggest departures from the sound
Failure established in their earliest days, bringing in stoic acoustic guitars, distant drum sounds, and light vocal harmonies. "Half Moon," in particular, sounds like a deep-space transmission of a lost track from
the Beatles'
White Album, closing out
Wild Type Droid on a note of lush beauty.
Failure's distinctive vision of spaced-out alternative rock made them one of the more interesting bands of their type in the '90s, and their curiosity and restless development continue as they take their sound to new places here. Comparing
Wild Type Droid with some of the albums that put
Failure on the map, we hear a band that's still improving, turning in some of their best-sounding and most thoughtfully constructed work well into their second act. ~ Fred Thomas