Having turned lemons into gold, Atmosphere darkly return with The Family Sign.  With the snare-heavy, soulful production talents of Ant being exchanged for a live, experimental instrumental section.  Gone from When Life Gives You Lemons are the peppier, inviting hooks and sunny structures, replaced by the menacing twinkle of piano and emotional guitar.  On certain tracks (openers “My Key” and “The Last to Say”) the forlorn guitar works incredibly well with MC Slug’s somber and incredibly intimate rhymes, while others (specifically “Big Bad Daddy”) fail miserably because the puzzle pieces simply don’t fit.  Throughout the Minneapolis duo’s career they’ve resisted captivity to any particular sound, and the longer a band has been around, the more they tend to reach out.  Kudos for the experimentation, but the result from the lab isn’t overly promising on headphones, but will likely transfer to a live setting well.

3 out of 5 Stars

3 out of 5 Stars