Religious Knives’ songs are not interesting for the territory they cover or the twists and turns they throw at you. The Knives are on the opposite end of the psych spectrum inhabited by star-chasers like Comets On Fire and Titan. They choose not to razzle-dazzle the ear with wild bombardments of instrumental outburst, instead following a much more singular muse that keeps the music simple but never stupid.
Listen to the first 30 seconds of a song, and you’ve pretty much heard the whole thing — it can be an annoying approach, but if you did, in fact, enjoy the first 30 seconds, at least you’re going to know where you stand with the rest of the track ahead of time. Generally weaker than Resin, The Door is blink-and-you’ll-miss-the-boat short, yet it almost wears out its welcome with a few samey songs and vocalists that sound bored.
Take “The Storm,” for example; not living up to its name, it plods along on a drone with really nothing grabbing hold of the ear, until, that is, a drowsy vocal makes you wish you weren’t too sleepy to press the ‘skip’ button. Too bad, because right around the corner is the strongest track here, “Major Score.” The singing is again weighed down a bit by a Vicodin-ish lag, but the instrumentation is top-notch, and the mood is set and maintained expertly by the interweaving bass and keyboard parts.
“Decisions are Made” continues the winning streak, but it’s too little too late. It’s one thing to sound disaffected and detached from one’s music, but it’s another to just plain fail to put a song across. The instrumentals of The Door would be enough to maintain interest if they were buttressed by better vocals. Religious Knives will be worth watching, as they are prolific and at the epicenter of an exciting movement, but as it stands Right Now, Religious Knives’ latest recording doesn’t implore repeat listens the way Resin did and still does.
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