Compared with it’s slightly lackluster predecessor, Concentration is a surprisingly vibrant and varied affair. Opening with the menacing “Perfect Tan (Bikini Atoll),” the album then skips through a wide variety of musically styles, all of them built around a throbbing bass sound. Check out the mutant funk of “Cheap”; it’s hard to imagine any of the band’s contemporaries locking into such a groove. Unlike other industrial bands, Machines of Loving Grace resist the temptation to smear everything with thrashing guitars. And a good thing too: Concentration is an exceptional album, head and shoulders above most of the others in this field. Which makes it even more annoying that they’re still largely unknown. – Jim Harper
more »