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http://www.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/49fab3ef1069ce4b48361bad73a2bdcee642243c.jpg Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

Akron/Family

Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

Dead Oceans
Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
5 3.5 0
March 15, 2011

The grandiose title betrays an even greater (purported) mythology: New York/Portland psych-rockers Akron/Family claim to have written their fifth album in a cabin built into the base of Mount Meakan, an active Japanese volcano. But whether they really trekked to Hokkaido or just decamped in Williamsburg with some 7-Eleven sushi, the record is a ruminant, volatile effort that befits such a lurid legend. Less bucolic than 2009’s Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, Akron/Family II shifts disquietingly from atonally screamed group chants and acidic guitars ("Fuji 1 (Global Dub)") to gentle, phosphorescent ballads celebrating nature and light ("Canopy"). The uniting thread is the labyrinthine structure and a tangible sense of adventure.

Listen to "Silly Bears":

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