BROKEN SPINDLES
fulfilled/complete (Saddle Creek)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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Ethereal, highly syncopated pop is the end product of fulfilled/complete and its creator is Broken Spindles, an off-shoot of Joel Petersen from The Faint. While comparisons to the likes of Moby and Air on Moon Safari are fair, there is something about Broken Spindles that belies simple comparisons. The album as a whole encompasses more - more divergent styles, more varied themes - than most others that would be its companion in a music store's "electronic" section. I am pressed to say that it is a compilation close to Moby's I Like to Score and its thematic, flamboyant manners. As "To Die, For Death" is guitar, hook driven, the track it follows "Song No Song" is starkly comprised of a moody, twinkling piano. If an album can be said to thrive on its constant state of flux, it is fulfilled/complete.

On a work that flutters between highs and lows, it is important to note that it also does so between weak and strong. Peterson is extremely talented and although his more industrial compositions aren't bad per se, they are nowhere near his ambient abstractions. Wherever he decides to go with Broken Spindles however, there is almost certain to be an air of excitement to follow.

© 2004 - Erick Mertz