The Impossible Shapes are the kid brothers of the Elephant 6 collective, with a slightly sharper edge. On "Survival," that edge becomes full-on rock, but mostly, the Impossible Shapes execute their songs more exactly than bands like Olivia Tremor Control. The guitars are crisp; the changes to minor keys flawless and perfectly unsettling, the bass filling in the spaces between guitar notes; the drums quiet and almost tribal. Singer/ songwriter/guitarist Chris Barth (who also plays in John Wilkes Booze) sounds strangely like Jeremy Enigk of Sunny Day Real Estate on "I Move by the Moon," "The Princess" and "Putrefication," and the Impossible Shapes revel in the same realm as the Elephant 6 bands and SDRE--melancholic, melodic and mythic.
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