Sharp Teeth “Lines and Stars” Review

Minneapolis-based group Sharp Teeth are not a band that finds solace in adding bells and whistles to their music. The three-piece group practices short, buzzing and frenzied garage-influenced rock and roll on their latest album Lines and Stars. With the fat trimmed from the songs, the group deliver a short, concise, borderline grungy pop songs that sound like a lean version of Sleater-Kinney. The album is jam packed with short, tense songs, many of which run shorter than two and a half minutes. The album starts out with its longest song, “The Light,” which features the band’s trademark growling guitars and shows lead vocalist Erica Krumm’s ability to create a strong juxtaposition within the songs. Her bright vocals are contrasted with her dark lyrical content, “If we die today, it would be OK.” The rhythm section behind Krumm, featuring Mayonate Baka on drums and Adri Mehra, holds their own and provides a roaring backdrop for Krumm’s fuzzy anthems over the disc’s short 22 minute lifespan. The songs on Lines and Stars go to show that bigger isn’t always better. The album ultimately succeeds because the band writes great, scuzzy rock and roll songs and plays the hell out of them. When you got that down, you don’t need any of the extra stuff.