Quintaine Americana: Decade Of The Brain

Quintaine Americana is mad, experiencing the same indistinct anger that seems to fuel most humorless noise bands today. Then again, maybe it's just confusion, or disappointment that its members came together too late to make much of a large-scale impact. The group's full-length debut, Decade Of The Brain, is a brutish, seething album, full of threats and allusions to rural America and violent acts, intentional and otherwise. The heaving drums and guitars create a tight, pummeling sound that constricts the heart and lungs, inducing claustrophobia in anyone who listens to it for more than 10 minutes. To the band's credit, about five years ago, Quintaine Americana would have reigned triumphant alongside Helmet and The Pain Teens. But now, Decade Of The Brain sounds a bit too tried-and-true to seem anything but safe.