Angels of Destruction!

A ninth album is when bands critically touted as rootsy and real are supposed to get old and throw together a warmed over platter of stale Americana. ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION was a perfect candidate for this kind of phone-in, but Brooklyn-via-Philadelphia's Marah do just the opposite by turning back the clock and uncorking an adrenaline rush of tunesmanship, energy, and, yes, all-American guitar grit.
Finally having gelled as a sextet, with the newly added Christine Smith on piano and vocals, Marah stomps through a freewheeling cavalcade of styles throughout the long-player's eleven cuts. "Jesus in the Temple" recalls the White Stripes' arena stomp, while "Blue But Cool" finds singer Dave Bielanko channeling his inner Craig Finn on lines such as "Reeling from a tongue kiss on the outskirts of foreverness." References don't do this justice, however, ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION has an urgency and impact all its own.