| Print |

Written by Carl Hines Friday, 01 February 2008 04:20

Each track is strong enough to stand on its own, all the while perfectly contributing to the cohesiveness of the work as a whole.

Any band whose name is derived from the likes of Thomas Edison and Phillip Glass had better be up to the task of creating meaningful works on par with the likes of the aforementioned innovators. While Time Is Fiction may not be an invention as crucial as the light bulb, the newest effort from Long Island rockers Edison Glass is packed with enough energy to blow all fuses and leave you dancing in the dark, smiling from ear to ear.

The record bursts from the gate with the slick guitar grooves and soaring vocals of "Let Go," and continues this established pace, frantic and beautiful, throughout the disc. The eerie sci-fi forecast that opens "Without a Sound" plays like something straight out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel: "Machines are on the rise, they're closing in/ it's getting dangerous."

While the boys of Edison Glass may fear the future with its implications of singularity, they've definitely gotten the art of great songwriting down to a science. All over Time Is Fiction are examples of their ability to mesh screaming guitars with pulse-pounding rhythms and shimmering vocal melodies. "All Our Memories" is a perfect example of this, going from zero to 60 in seconds before comfortably decelerating into an elegant chorus swirling with bells and bowed strings.

Time Is Fiction is one disc that's nearly impossible not to fall in love with. Each track is strong enough to stand on its own, all the while perfectly contributing to the cohesiveness of the work as a whole. And rest assured, Edison Glass won't leave you high and dry like your first high school fling; these guys have been a band for nearly ten years, releasing three albums on their own before signing with Credential Recordings for the release of A Burn or a Shiver and now, Time Is Fiction. B+ | Carl Hines

RIYL: Circa Survive, At the Drive-In