Inside/Absent

While Broken Spindles' third album, INSIDE/ABSENT, shares its predecessors' distinctive artwork (each record cover features a scene with boxy white figures), the music here is more stripped-down and minimal than past offerings. The result of home recordings by Omaha, Nebraska's Joel Petersen, the album is a variation on the dark techno-pop carried over from Petersen's day job as bassist for the Faint. However, while the former's music can be dense and chaotic, Broken Spindles' carefully established tone is spare and atmospheric, like the soundtrack to a moody, futuristic European thriller.