I watched Schizopolis this past weekend. I figured the movie would help me decipher the untold complexities of Namelessnumberheadman. The band is, after all, named after a character in the Steven Soderbergh film. What I got instead was a crotch shot of an escaped lunatic with no pants on. Score. This didn't tell me much about Namelessnumberheadman, other than confirming that the band has a mischievous sense of humor underneath the concentrated moan and drone of its music. Independent of pantless nut jobs on the lam, the band's latest album, Your Voice Repeating, isn't so much a radical departure as it is a maturation. The group's sound is a little more focused, a little more refined in its explorations of melodic rock, indie pop, instrumental meandering and just plain making noise. But even as the band stacks and staggers sonic layers that alternate fevered crescendos with abrupt calm, nothing on the album feels excessive. "Every Fiber" and "Full & Frayed" are as soothing and alluring as anything on college radio; tracks such as "Tension Envelopes" and "Woke Up to Find" flutter seamlessly between gripping tension and dreamy release. As it turns out, listening to Your Voice Repeating will tell you much more about the band than watching Schizopolis. Who knew?
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