Fang: Somewhere Out There

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

Their frothy, fuzzy debut pegged Auckland outfit Fang as indie-rock also-rans. However, this their second is a leap into something more distinctive - a spookier, swampier,and slinkier territory which makes for a satisfying album of mildly unsettling, bittersweet pop songs.

With its dreamy, communal guy/gal vocals, infrequent twanging guitars and swathes of organ and other vintage keyboards, the sound suggests a sort of Grey Lynn gothic.

That's at its strongest on the likes of Pauline (who could be an old friend of Nick Cave by the sound of it), Anti Climax Girl (early Chills meets Mazzy Star), Connected (which echoes of Fang's bassist Ben Howe's previous band Superette), and Telephone (er, New Order meets Tall Dwarfs).

This sometimes swerves towards the twee as on Three Feet of Snow, an ode to a preserved prehistoric corpse (which was done better by Aussies the Triffids on their Jerdacuttup Man).

But for much of this, Fang neatly prove that volume of bark isn't necessarily related to strength of bite.

Label: Arch Hill