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The Mendoza Line
Full Of Light And Full Of Fire
Low Transit Industries/Reverberation

After The Mendoza Line's last album, 'Fortune', left me with a bad taste in my mouth, I was a little wary when slipping 'Full Of Light And Full Of Fire' into the CD player for the first time. However, then I remembered a few years earlier championing 'Lost In Revelry', the band's fourth album and the one that introduced me to this Boston seven-piece. At the time it had knocked me sideways with its near-perfect mix of Americana and power-pop; and I'll be damned if 'Full Of Light And Full Of Fire' isn't even better.

The Mendoza Line again share singing duties between Shannon McCardle and Timothy Bracy but each singer seems to have brought something new to this album. McCardle adds both a punk edge and a country twang to her usual melancholy tone and Bracy has finally discarded his annoying Dylanesque drawl for a more natural, if still nasal, story-telling voice that suits perfectly his contributions to this stripped-back album. Water Surrounds begins with a Mazzy Star moodiness (circa 'She Hangs Brightly'), country inflections and dark yet quizzical lyrics that add a menacing air to McCardle's forlorn feminine voice. The Lethal Temptress' raw harmonica and bare snare reinforce the album's sparse alternative sound. The beautiful Settle Down, Zelda hangs Bracy's twanging timbre upon a naked frame of acoustic guitar and drums, and is akin to Richmond Fontaine's recent bleak masterpiece, 'The Fitzgerald'. The restrained production and minimal instrumentation across 'Light And Fire' lend a dark potency to the songs; the skeletal guitar and minimal percussion matches McCardle's maudlin voice more than in any past Mendoza Line album.

There's contrast to be found in a few tracks that offer country-rock action (Rat's Alley), power-pop (Mysterious In Black), new-punk (Golden Boy) and Richard Hawley style blue laments (Our Love Is Like A Wire) but the core is always raw alt-country. 'Full Of Light And Full of Fire' is The Mendoza Line's most consistent, poignant and rewarding album to date and, if you haven't heard them before, a damn good place to start.

Steven Hocking

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2008 Adelaide International Guitar Festival