Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death: Some of Us Are In This Together

Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death are rumored to be good live, but their sixth album is more a group therapy session than an attempt to connect with an audience. The trouble is, it’s not abrasive enough to make people riot in anger, either; this seems like good music for a trip to the merch table. Listeners seeking pure confrontational power may be disappointed to find the band playing inept art rock. A droning bass dominates the mix, the drums pound out sub-Moe Tucker anti-grooves, and the guitarist plunks lazy tunes off the top of his head. The closing seven-minute post-rock slog has a decent riff, though, if you collect such things. Adenoidal shrieker Spencer Moody seems more interested in being a man of letters than a singer, but lines like “the most sane amongst them wore dung in her hair” convey nothing but Moody’s misplaced ambition. Infinite monkeys working infinite typewriters might have eventually come up with the group’s band name, but two chimps flinging their feces and screaming would’ve made a more compelling squall.