It sounds like someone's typing on a keyboard or
opening a carton of milk in the background of "December," the last song on
Maybe It's Reno's self-titled debut. That mundanity underscores a heavy mood:
The group—essentially ex-Unrest bassist Bridget Cross, plus
friends—revisits the death of Cross' father, a personal tragedy first set
to music in "June" from Unrest's 1992 album, Imperial F.F.R.R. Cross appeared on Fugazi's
The Argument in
2001, but sadly, she's lately been missing from the indie-rock scene she helped
found. And Maybe It's Reno isn't going to recapture her admittedly
subterranean glory. But the disc is messy and tender in a modestly gorgeous
way: The first seven tracks constitute an Unrest reunion of sorts, with former
bandmates Mark Robinson and Phil Krauth contributing to some chilled, whispery
pop that picks up pretty much where the trio left off in the '90s. The last
three tracks—including the aforementioned "December"—are the
kicker, though. Captured in a different studio with a different lineup, the lo-fi
scrappiness of "Drunk Pilot" is an injection of lightning, and "Lone Star"
showcases Cross' sugar-crystal croon before cribbing liberally from Joy
Division's "Novelty." And then the piano-laced "December" wraps things up with
a morbid sense of closure that erodes and evaporates into nothingness. Cross
seems to be fading from the music scene with a whimper—but at least it's
a lovely one.