Pet Slimmers of the Year - Fragments of Uniforms

Band names are usually a little odd, but this one is reaching for the title. What's a Pet Slimmer?Say what you want about their name, but Pet Slimmers of the Year are making a reputation for themselves in the underground music circles as an up and comer in the stoner/doom metal continuum. Starting out by building a buzz with two well-received EPs, they've hit it big by blending the chimey, textured, reverby guitars of alternative music of the late 20th century with a metal grunge and atmospheric noise to make a truly otherworldly sound.

Their full-length debut Fragments of Uniforms presents you with eight songs, averaging six and a half minutes in length each, and it makes for a pretty great moody soundtrack to a weekend driving excursion, with the windows rolled down, a certain burning smell in the air, and a cool breeze on your face. Typical of this kind of music the vocals are sparse, serving only to accent the melodies over the rhythms that plod along like elephants in a caravan. So while it's heavy, it never really breaks through that threshold into headbanging territory, instead percolating steadily giving a sense of impending release that doesn't quite come.

The Bottom Line: If you dig stuff like East Of The Wall but want it a little more reigned in with a little bit of a 90s Brit-pop feel, Pet Slimmers of the Year may be your new jam. No foolin'.

- Genghis really dug this a lot...