(The Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope - From Where You Were To How You Got There (2005)

The drumbeats have only been sounding for a few seconds on the leadoff track, "Because I Am Haunted," before a heavily echoed, repetitive guitar riff begins and it turns out that (The Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope are sounds rock fans have been listening to for 40 years, starting with the Velvet Underground and continuing with innumerable descendants, in particular the Jesus and Mary Chain. Like that '80s British outfit, Damien C. Taylor and his cohorts love the sound of 1960s guitar-driven pop/rock, but they strip the "pop" part out by avoiding choruses, simplifying melodies, and under-mixing the vocals. The band is made up of Americans based in Washington, D.C., but Taylor, to the extent his voice can be made out, often phrases like the Kinks' Ray Davies, and the song "Certain Colour Sky" deliberately employs the British spelling of "colour." On some tracks, starting with the second one, "(Pt 2)," they are content to create sound effects out of feedback and echo, not bothering even to come up with a song. Such moments may be the truest for this ensemble, which gives away its intentions in its name: (The Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope are what the musicians intend to produce, and those sounds may be musical only incidentally.