Normally, seeing ?bassoon? listed as one of the instruments on a recording sets off all kinds of alarm bells for me, the same way some punk types (the ones who haven?t heard the Stooges? ?Funhouse?) will see ?saxophone? listed in an albums liner notes and freak out. It?s possibly because many bands that try to incorporate orchestral instruments into the rock band format don?t really seem to know what they?re doing; they think that having the bassoon (or sax) honk all over a song is enough. Coughs are canny to know better, the bassoon isn?t part of their main line-up (which consists of a vocalist, two percussionists, a bass player, a keyboard/sax player and a guitarist), but on the songs on which it does make an appearance, it?s put to good use, making them sound like a deranged marching band. This a slight departure from the band?s main sound which is a cross between free jazz skronk, Man Is The Bastard-esque pounding, and clanking and scratching that brings to mind Einsturzende Neubauten. It?s compelling stuff, especially since, as mentioned above, not many bands do this sort of thing well. The only caveat is that the lyrics could use a bit of work, as they tend to be a bit overly angsty or abstruse. The delivery, however, is spot on. Aside from that, the disc is well worth checking out. 8/10 -- Neddal Ayad (24 October, 2005)