Definite party album of the year, especially if you're a Buddhist monk or a fan of minimalist angular guitar funk. And I definitely don't mean this in a bad way, Antelope produces some of the most streamlined groove punk music ever conceived of and laid to tape. They, and engineers Ian MacKaye and Don Zientara (you might know who they are), create such a clean and tight package, one would almost wonder if these guys weren't robots of rock.

Walking the fine line between mantra and rave-up, these ten songs fly by at a pace that leaves you ultimately disappointed. I want an Antelope 5-cd set, damn it! The songs are too damn short, and too damn catchy. The voices lock you in just as much as the bass and the drums and the guitars, a simple weaving of simple passages, but in the end, far more satisfying than any orchestration or synthesizer dance.

Formed in 2001, Antelope brings Justin Moyer (formerly of the elaborately silly El Guapo and subsequent funkier project Supersystem) into contact with former Vetrebrates Mike Andre and Bee Elvy. The results are cataclysmic, in the best sense of the word. Following two EP's, they finally found their stamina and released "Reflector", a hunk of pure gold. Vocal deliveries approach the level of Lungfish at their most harmonic, or Radiohead (think Idioteque) at it's driest.

In fact, Lungfish and Radiohead aren't bad leaping off points to discuss the seemingly seamless pop constructions of Antelope, which end up being far more infectious and catchy than you could have thought. "Wandering Ghost" with it's haiku-esque lyrics (three lines ? "Wandering ghost, Wandering endlessly, wandering in between" over and over) is pure fucking genius and it didn't take a million dollars in some London studio to drag that one out of these guys? I have a feeling that they have a whole lot more of these gems in them. I hope. 9/10 -- Grant Capes (1 May, 2007)