2008, Exit Stencil

Cleveland’s The Dreadful Yawns are back.

Take Shape, The Dreadful Yawns’ second album, has been described as more psychedelic than their first release; this might be a worry if the Dreadful Yawns hadn’t awed us last time.

They’ve always have a retro sound, and it’s sometimes more prevalent this time ’round, but it’s largely a relaxing affair. The album’s first track, “Like Song,” starts out as a stripped and countrified Jim O’Rourke rhyme and ends with full-on Loose Fur loveliness–the kind of thing that the Yawns do best. The next song, “The Queen and the Jokester” is a Kinks-style stomp.

The Dreadful Yawns are still on top of their game, and a little more experimentation hasn’t hurt them, but the album does feel less realized than their previous work. Songs are occasionally dragged down by noise, but there is a balance, albeit tenuous. Take Shape closes with “Mood Assassin,” a fitting closure. It’s great to have more from this sub-radar Cleveland band.

B+

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