Vintage Future in Bloomington, MN

Based on how catchy and mordantly funny
Vintage Future
is, it seems that the more discontented
Lars Finberg
is, the better it is for
the Intelligence
's music. As the band moved farther away from its lo-fi roots,
Finberg
and company sometimes struggled to maintain their off-kilter punk charm, but
lets the abrasiveness that used to dominate their music emerge in its acerbic meditations on failure. The title track sums up the album's bleakly hilarious viewpoint, as
imagines a world "where people get gutted and refuse the suture" as sometime
Thee Oh Sees
vocalist
Brigid Dawson
coos in the background (along with
Dawson
, the album's many guests include
'
Petey Dammit
,
Sic Alps
Mike Donovan
, and
Wounded Lion
's
Brad Eberhard
). Within that world,
riffs on decidedly vintage ideas and sounds: "I want a true love that I can step out on/And that I can still count on/While she waits/With a warm plate," he sneers on "Sex." Meanwhile, though "Whip My Valet" has a title that could be stolen from an
Adam Ant
B-side, its herky-jerky guitars come straight from
Devo
, and "We Refuse to Pay the Dues" is quintessential
Intelligence
from its lanky melody to its jaundiced view of the music business. Indeed, this is one of
's richest seams of inspiration, with "Platinum Janitor"'s spot-on details ("Shitty guitars/Touring in cars...You just don't care/And neither do we") reaffirming just how finely honed
's snark is this time around. The band also makes time for its more eclectic side on songs like "Dieu Merci Pour la Fixation de la Machine a Coudre," a balmy fusion of surf and flamenco that has to be one of
's prettiest moments, and "Cleaning Lady," which adds an eerie twist to the album's existential malaise with cheap yet spooky-sounding beats and synths (as well as lyrics like "Life's looking at you and it just won't blink"). Even with these musical tangents,
is one of
's most focused albums, and their most clever and satisfying music in some time. ~ Heather Phares