Pitchfork

The Glass kicks up the dust of recent bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on the first song of this EP, "Mad at You". Someone absurdly called this record "metal" in a glowing web review, probably because of this first track. Apart from the dreadful repetition of the lyric, "Only one reason we're mad at you," this could be a less sexy cover of !!!'s "Must Be the Moon". It's a flitting, sparks-flying, and fist-pumping song, but the context is annoyingly understated. What could the band really be referring to, and could they at least give us a clue? Instruments can be voices, inferential in their illumination of what the singer is on about, but here, they're just as brain-dead as the words.

The New York group, often compared to the Rapture, suffers from a penchant for dance-rock jams that sounded better four years ago (or 24). Heavy bass work, which is not so much noodling as rudimentary scale exercises, prevents the sultry hints of new wave created by "Fourteen Again"'s vocals from really sinking in. The repetition of the line-- you guessed it-- "fourteen again" convinces you that only electro-house and its cousins should be permitted to bathe in such monotony. The Glass tries too hard to create something emotive here, but the music doesn't really fit anywhere; you can't dance to it, and when listening alone, it's fuel for feeling a bit hopeless, either about life or the future of music.

The best comes last: in a damp, anemic drawl, "4 Bytes" closes out the seven tracks with wah-wah guitar and a wandering, vertiginous pattern of glittering electronics. This soothing departure from the shin-kick rhythm of the majority of the songs nearly saves the entire EP: it's a small return to the band's earlier two releases, and itjourneys homogenously without dulling the senses. The only rival to "Bytes" is the pleasantly cloudy "Green Leaves", which garnishes its thundering bass line and feathery alto vocals with soaring fake strings and a simple electric guitar that settles down for a twinkle of peaceful decorative effects. Still, the longevity of such a track is questionable, especially with a nonexistent chorus and no hint of any emotion more powerful than longing.