Pitchfork

Day for Night is named for a French New Wave film, but this song, from their digital-only EP, shares a title with Terrence Malick's very American flick about spree-killer Charlie Starkweather. Such are the subtle contradictions in this cinema-centric New York band, which features members of now-defunct Bastion backing the Affair's Kali Holloway. From its epic opening chords to its ten-story chorus to its grinding outro, "Badlands" is all controlled thunder, with guitarist Keith Ehrlich and drummer Bill Kovalcik churning U2-style drama but exhibiting admirable restraint. Holloway is blessed with an enormous voice that suggests the Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom without the blues grounding, but she never sounds big for big's sake. In fact, she's most expressive when she's projecting. As a result, "Badlands" sounds large yet measured, as if the band is simultaneously giving everything and holding back.