I'm a pretty big fan of most of Parts & Labor's 2008 release, Receivers. Some songs kind of wore on me, didn't seem to have as much punch as the others. The ones I loved the most I covered back in April of 2009, and those songs are still in some ways better than the songs on their new album, Constant Future. That said, I think this new one is their most accessible and consistently enjoyable album so far.

In general the Parts & Labor line up on this album (missing the last album's female guitarist) sound much more focused on making more dance-able, almost pop-rock tunes. A lot of the experimentation of the last albums (and the ones prior, which I enjoy even less) is gone here. There's no Mount Misery on this album, my favorite Parts & Labor song ever, which is to say there aren't any songs that ooze post-apocalyptic atmosphere or sound like they're telling a story at all. That Fallout-esque imagery is still in the lyrics, like on this track: "the pictures gathered dust and acid rain" and don't ask me to decipher the rest of the lyrics.

I have almost never been able to understand the majority of what Parts & Labor's vocalists are singing, but for the most part that's just fine. I don't like to know too much, as that can detract from my own, more enjoyable, interpretation of the song. I really like Dan Friel's voice a lot, and since he's also the brains behind the really unique synthesizer sound that really powers what makes Parts & Labor sound unique and interesting, I gotta say I am totally jealous of that guys chops.

What we end up with on Constant Future is a very tight album, without any real slow points, that is chock full of quality songs. I've been listening to it endlessly all week, and as a whole, I think this is definitely their best album to date. I was never a big fan of "noise rock" anyway. I'm totally comfortable with the road they're travelling down. I just want them to release more quickly.