Stratotanker: Gambit

Rather than taking great strides forward since last year's Baby, Test The Sky, the members of NYC's Stratotanker have gone back to the basement to rock out—while their parents were gone, of course—and come forth with Gambit. The band draws elements from kraut-rock, jazz, funk and screaming ugly garage-rock, and spews out a sound that's uniquely Stratotanker's. Sounding like it was recorded under three feet of pudding, Gambit feels more like an inspired jam session than a fully realized project. That playful looseness keeps the album interesting and, in parts, annoying. In "Hey Baby," singer Dick Dahl throatily grunts out a monologue while bandmates let fly with the occasional "Hey baby!" for a great attention-getting number. However, on "Goose In The Night," the loose trumpeting seems too strained, too precociously indie. Gambit is an intriguing album, but it requires more attention than you may be able to give it. You're better off playing it either alone or really fucking loud.