Acrylics as a band name couldn't be more appropriate. It denotes a massive color scheme ?and a hardened finish, which also mirrors the band's sound. All of the Fire was recorded over a week in a converted-church-to-studio that Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor uses. The result is beautiful and stark, fussy and cosmic. The sound has a faint, echoed feel and an unsettling coolness to the whole - passively sonic, never browbeating the ear, but grabbing it hard to whisper into it coolly and sweetly.

Jason Klauber has a gutsy voice, whiskey-soaked like a Midwestern Steve Kilbey. Molly Shea brings an angelic quality, whether holding back or letting loose. It's a perfect mixture of two distinct voices, partly aggressive and part sincerely playful, never clashing when placed together. There's more of Klauber, which is fine, but it would be well-served to hear Shea on her own more.

All of the Fire is sometimes reminiscent of '80s music in terms of melody and song construction, yet is painted with a rough '90s coating like Cutting Crew or Big Country mixed with Baby Animals or indie flourishes. "All of the Fire" feels lifted from 1985 and "Avenue I" unfolds like the Church covering Springsteen's "I'm On Fire." "Honest Aims" fires off like Midwestern '80s rock with Euro flavoring and a blistering finish. The songs are evident of why there's much talk about Acrylics. They have distilled and put forth much at once: Americana bathed in eclectic shades of rock, gentle melodies and a cool veneer. (Terrible Records) XBrian Tucker