Communication Breaks

With his little, whispery, precious voice and sentimental tunes, Wyatt Cusick and his band Track Star were one of the more accomplished acts to arise out of the second generation of ultra-sensitive indie rock bands. When Cusick coos lyrics like "There are three ideas in my head/One's to suck on fumes 'til I'm dead/One's to cover the city in flame/And one's to run to the roof and then scream out your name" on "Alien Idea," there is never any doubt that the third option will always win out. Of course, pink-cheeked indie kids in polyester shirts go bonkers over these sorts of sentiments. Track Star also adds a bit of rock to their Lou Barlow-like songs Generally, Comunication Breaks is a varied collection. There are ringing Wedding Present-like rhythm guitars, abrupt dynamic shifts, and a yelping, all-percussive song called "Payback," which doesn't sound like Track Star at all. Though they don't do Superchunk or Sebadoh as well as those bands do their own thing, Track Star's take on this nice-guy genre is way better than average.