An Albatross

The An Albatross Family Album

[4/5]

They’re the spring-loaded snakes leaping out of a gag can of unsalted nuts. An Albatross inhabit a madly mutating hall of mirrors splicing hardcore, jazz and garage rock into a carnival ride through spastic noise-addled synapses on the verge of exploding like something in a Die Hard movie. The band’s third album staggers, stumbles and careens with the surreptitious precision of Charlie Chaplin, blasting through cacophonous sonic landscapes populated by lurching organs, wailing synths and squealing peals of guitar. Singer Eddie Gieda presides over the wonderfully unhinged mess like a screeching circus ringmaster. It’s mildly threatening and a whole lot of fun, from “A Convivial Feast Of The Peace Beast,” whose macabre organ-fueled bounce is worthy of The Addams Family, to the epic space-rock closer, “3,000 Light Years By The Way Of The Spacehawk.” Just don’t open in a crowded place. (EYEBALL) Chris Parker