Optic Sink
Lucky Number
Lucky Number, the third album from Memphis trio Optic Sink, finds the band both refining and expanding their hypnotic mix of post-punk and dance music, resulting in a sharp and moving exploration of surfaces, shadows, and self-delusion. Natalie Hoffmann (NOTS) has come into her full power as a lyricist. Her work on earlier records (see "Modelesque" and "Glass Blocks") shows her talent for exploring the hidden shallows of modern life, but here the funhouse mirrors are balanced by painful longing and drops of truth that leak through the cracks. The music reflects thisunder Bauermeister's driving grooves and the songs' tight arrangements lurk hidden complexities, thanks in part to Keith Cooper's exceptional, angular work on guitar and bass. "Unreachable / untouchable space / glass tower / a fragile face / when you're here / where do you go?" Hoffmann sings over the sinister, nocturnal funk of "Construction." Few bands can match the hard beauty of Depeche Mode, New Order, and A Certain RatioOptic Sink manages to do more than that, adding their own sad, cutting wisdom.