Attic Ted

Attic Ted

The Attic Ted Land Suite (Pecan Crazy)

There's precious little middle ground with this gothic country noise collective from San Marcos. Organist/vocalist Grady Roper has the iconoclastic charisma of a tent-show preacher. The vivid wash of accompaniment from electronic noise engineer Lance McMahan and cellist Margie Osborne only deepens the rabbit hole. While The Attic Ted Land Suite is cut from the same cloth as the band's last two releases, its concision makes it a particularly fine initiation into the ways of Ted. The doors open with "Attic Ted Land," a warbling anthem well suited to Oktoberfest celebrations. "Here We Are" may be the creepiest come-on this side of Ed Gein, while "The House" is a polka-flavored nightmare that conjures up visions of apparitions looking to scare the charm out of an old edifice before someone turns it into a bed & breakfast. The fast-paced swirl of "Climbing Up" takes the anxiety level even higher before "Hopper's Revenge" closes out the suite with an eight-minute purgatory of swamp noise and electronic malaise. Even so, you don't need to eat the magic candy to appreciate Attic Ted's singular sense of purpose.