The Airborne Toxic Event [UK]

Like many Los Angeles modern rock groups of the latter days of the 2000s, the Airborne Toxic Event feel like a self-contained chronicle of all alt rock trends of the past two decades. On their eponymous debut, the group run the gamut from slowly swirling shoegaze, Ian Curtis impressions, and stately strummed guitars to tightly wound Strokes-ian pop and thumping disco-rock, executing them all efficiently. This placidity is most evident on the slower songs. Airborne Toxic Event are better when they lean heavily on the Strokes' persistent pulse, or when they recycle classic alt rock tropes, not quite making them their own, but at least revealing the depth of their good taste. [A U.K. version was also released.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine