Somewhere between the garage rock revival and something completely different reside Boston's The In Out. Their latest release on Emperor Jones sees the trio banging through 11 songs, led by singer Todd Nudelman's sardonic vocals, part Talking Heads and part Interpol (uh, or Joy Division). These vocals are definitely the point of focus for the record; the "production" on the record essentially leaves bass and drums to fend for themselves. The songs themselves mostly consist of Nudelman speak-singing nonsense ("find the common motive! / find the common motive! / camouflage!") overtop of urgently strummed clean guitar. The record feels at once homemade and apathetic, cheaply produced and cheaply packaged. Yet this lends to Il Dito's charms, particularly on oddball highlights like "Trapped Body - Auscultate Me" and "Sell You Phones" (which would make a worthy match for the Liars' "You Know I Hate Stupid Phones" on a theme mix). Tough to find but worth it for the discerning Fall or early Pavement fan, the In Out hit their niche solidly.
1. Camouflage
2. Sell You Phones
3. Hedonism Haunts Our Quality Time
4. The Turning
5. Scanned Document Jam
6. Sense & Withdraw
7. Pursuit
8. Trapped Body - Auscultate Me
9. One Hand Loose
10. Unknown
11. Il Dito
More about: The In Out
