Saturnine

Wreck at Pillar Point (Dirt)
by Nik Rainey

Alterna-pop quiz, hot shot: See if you can guess Saturnine‘s m.o., judging solely by some of their song titles. “Summer Was A Waste,” “Slightly Less Than Ever,” “Broken”… yep, it’s mid-tempo sulk-rock. Twelve songs languishing in half-lidded, dull-nerved despair. It’s a better-produced version of Galaxie 500’s second-hand Velvetisms with a vocalist that sounds uncannily like Dumptruck. This is the kind of album that people who haven’t had a date in three years call “hypnotic.” If you’re one of those people, this potpourri of mopery may be your cup of bitter almonds. Those of us who have a life will take a pass on this.