Onward Quirky Soldiers

Synopsis

Fusing grinding new wave with the crunchy hooks of Pavement, Texas' Chomsky manages to make some of the catchiest indie rock to grace the stereo. Chomsky is smart not to wallow purely in the cold synth pop of yesteryear -- instead the characteristic keyboards and angular grooves just bubble up through some rocking tunes. "Straight Razor" employs familiar but never-fail "ooh-ooh-ohh"s; on "Inside," Sean Halleck coos, "This is the good part/This is the good part," before the big rock chorus; and "Gravitate" groans with spy movie ambience. Chomsky's strength is that they recontextualize their influences and make them sound totally original -- like "Light," which starts like the beginning of "Baba O'Riley" and then adds an '80s commercial rock riff; the robot ska of "Believe"; or "00:15:00," where the band manages to turn rehashed pop-punk into an on-your-feet, Weezer-worthy affair. Chomsky might not sound as shockingly new as the Pixies or Pavement, but they don't have to. ~ Charles Spano