Loxsly

Loxsly

Nothing makes or breaks a band like a concept album. Set in a post-Kid A realm of saturated and robotic textures, Loxsly's self-produced sophomore outing, Tomorrow's Fossils, unfolds the story of a well-intentioned scientist who develops the capability to read people's minds. Chaos ensues on par with the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, but rarely does the narrative thread disrupt the natural flow of the disc, which eases from the gentle unraveling of "You & I Were Working" and mechanical, instrumental tinkering in "Mouse Petals (We Built the Machine)" through the exceptional "Lamprey Eels," the lone holdover from last year's teaser EP, Flashlights. If anything, the variations in structure and tone, such as the staccato guitar jabs breaking the tension in centerpiece "Battalions" and the piano/guitar interlude in "Plastic Cones," mask the limitations of Cody Ground's impressionable vocal range. Ultimately, this Fossil is a contemporary, local triumph.