Music for Total Chickens

Rafter's Music for Chickens is, in essence, a collection of dreamy pop sketches. In each track there is a great deal of open space, ostensibly waiting to be filled in at a later date. The finest moments on the record take advantage of this: “Gentle Men” has a cavernous second-half that is punctuated by a Jean Michel Jarre-esque coda, while album highlight “Hope” builds from its stark opening to a stirring climax. “Unassailable” is perhaps the record's most fully-formed moment — its distorted stomp and choral vocals leave little to the imagination. It's hard to understand why avant indie pop is music for total chickens, but rest assured that total humans can enjoy it too.