Tall Firs: Too Old To Die Young

It'd

probably kill Thurston Moore to admit that he signed Tall Firs to his Ecstatic

Peace label based on one simple fact: The band's singer-guitarists Aaron Mullan

and Dave Mies sound—vocally and instrumentally—like Moore and his

Sonic Youth comrade Lee Ranaldo. Tall Firs' sophomore disc, Too Old To Die

Young, is

so early-'90s indie, it almost hurts: Tangled guitars, sweet dissonance, and

intensely bored singing all struggle lackadaisically for dominance, and the two

songwriters' lyrics grasp for the sublime in the mundane. It's a pretty but barely

coherent sprawl, and new drummer Ryan Sawyer unhinges it further with a

misplaced jazzy restlessness that hints even he is impatiently waiting for the

songs to go somewhere. In spite of its blatant Sonic Youth biting—which

is actually kind of refreshing—there are a lot of gorgeous and even

heart-stopping moments on Too Old To Die Young. It's just a shame so few

of its strengths can figure out how to work together.