Connection

"Ribot and Ceramic Dog push their vitriol about the state of the world to new heights, crafting an album that balances a sustained punk dread with moments of primal, yawping rage. The record opens with the title track, a slow-burning rumination on neurotic self-isolation that has the feeling of an argument where someone calls you out for never truly living happily in the moment, declaring, "you live your life like a spy 'bout to miss your connection." That the song also sounds something like Lou Reed backed by the Stooges speaks to the raw, garage-rock atmosphere Ceramic Dog capture throughout much of the album ... There are also gorgeously evocative instrumental tracks like "Swan," where tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis wails against the tidal wave of Ribot's distorted guitar like John Coltrane sitting in with My Bloody Valentine".

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"The New York guitarist and his longtime collaborators spend a rollicking, leisurely hour imagining rock music's role in a world more invested in social justice than commerce ... Soaring peaks rise up from Connection's expanse, such as the slippery transition between verse and chorus on "Soldiers in the Army of Love," the bluesy build of "No Name," or the 3/4 riff on "Connection," which cuts against Smith's common-time rhythm like a blade through tender beef. But the record can feel like a repository of quality ideas and B-side larks that don't quite fit into a cohesive album".

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