Casket Salesmen formed after bassist Phil Pirrone suffered a horrific car accident and, following a lengthy recovery, decided to abandon his post in the band A Static Lullaby. Teaming up with guitarist (and former bandmate) Nathan Lindeman, he formed Casket Salesmen with the determination to do something “as genuine, as human, and as cordial, kind, and welcoming as we possibly can.” If that kind of talk leaves you expecting either wimpy acoustic balladry or overweaning, heart-on-sleeve emo, then think again: what you actually get is tight and heavy rock with soaring (but not pretentious) vocals and all kinds of weird and unexpected stylistic digressions: the odd instrumental interlude (“Shanghai Sally”); fragments of ambience that sound like a cross between Public Image Ltd. and Brian Eno (“Forked Tongues”); some crazy guitar noise (“Peace Monger”); and the occasional eruption of U2-style bombast (“Feeling Ten Feet Tall, Pt. 2″). Then there’s “Anaheimlich Maneuver”, a song whose unforgivably cute title is largely redeemed by its shades-of-English Beat saxophone solo. (Yes, saxophone solo.) There aren’t that many rock albums out there packing genuinely delightful surprises — this one is a gem. Highly recommended. – Rick Anderson
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