Royal Trux: Accelerator

Royal Trux's relationship with a major label didn't last long enough for it to complete its '60s/'70s/'80s trilogy as planned, but the group wrung a reasonable amount of commercial airplay out of the '60-inspired Thank You and the '70s-inspired Sweet Sixteen while it had the chance. Now Royal Trux is finally finishing its old business with a new album—the not surprisingly '80s-inspired Accelerator—and a less polished sound that mixes Velvet Underground's best stop-and-start techniques with Jon Spencer's over-the-top self-righteousness. Thick, distorted chords lie just beneath the surface of this concept album, and songs like "Banana Question" and "Juicy, Juicy, Juice" pound powerful melodies out of rhythmic guitar haze. In many ways, Accelerator achieves the '80s aesthetic it's going for: Neil Hagerty belts out one dramatic, syrupy solo after another, and almost every song features the echo effects that were commonplace throughout that decade. But as a collection of songs, it's inconsistent: Songs like "I'm Ready" sound like they weren't mixed at all, and toward the end of the album, particularly on songs like "New Bones," singer Jennifer Herrema begins to morph her voice into a pronounced Perry Farrell-breed whine. Accelerator may satisfy those who have stuck with Royal Trux through its exploration of the past few decades—it does rock, after all—but it's hit-and-miss, requiring an awful lot of patience.