Dead C, Secret Earth (side A)

2008's Secret Earth feels a bit like a throwback Dead C album, and an impressive one.  The emphasis here is consistently on the band's rock side, with distorted guitars, vocals, and Robbie Yeats's propulsive drumming.  There are occasional textured breakdowns that fit more with the group's mid-era and recent work.  The throwback also shows the group's evolution, as even the heavy parts are more subtle and evolve more slowly.  The pop impulse of songs like "Sky" never shows up—in this rock-like context, plenty of freedom is left to the listener.  The minimal packaging fits perfectly, with a computer-enhanced nature photo filling the front and white space filling almost the entire back.  The sound of the album is far brighter than the group's early work, with a frequency balance more aligned for a radio hit than the appropriately thick mid-range that defined the group's classic sound.