Portland’s post-punk greats Lithics’ third LP Tower of Age finally came out on Trouble In Mind a few days ago. Preceded by the single “Hands” that we wrote about earlier, it’s an album that dares go a step further in its attitude towards songwriting. Not often do songs sound so loose, yet so fully formed as here. Even James Chance would be impressed, I think. There’s melody here too, in a big way, as on “Twisting Vine” and the stunning “Mice In the Night”. And the more instrumental noodling of “Half Dormancy” and “A Highly Textured Ceiling” will whet the appetites of DNA and 39 Clocks fans.
