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Written by James McAnally Tuesday, 13 February 2007 04:53

The band's patented shoegaze gauze is shot through with fuzzed-out garage guitars on opener "Know," only to dissolve into a two-minute-long coda of brushed drums.

Pacific UV's latest, an abbreviated four-cut EP, sounds like it was meant to prepare fans for a shift of direction. The band's patented shoegaze gauze is shot through with fuzzed-out garage guitars on opener "Know," only to dissolve into a two-minute-long coda of brushed drums. Both sections are interesting, but incomplete. "Chemical" has a similar pattern: build up tension for half the song, then let it dissolve into a wash of atmospherics.

Pacing an album with a few of these tracks could make sense, but on an EP clocking in around 17 minutes (six of which fall to a deconstructed Eluvium remix), it feels uninspired and short on ideas. The only traditional song included is "50s," which sounds like, well, the '50s, beginning with the self-consciously appropriate lyric, "O babe/ it's a dream/ with you by my side." It's not Buddy Holly, but they pull off the pastiche well.

The band's PR people describe the EP as "eclectic." "Scattered" would have also worked. B- | James McAnally