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In the few years Chicago's Zelienople have been an actual band, they've experimented with a variety of configurations of their sound. After the shifting eclecticism of Pajama Avenue and the hushed, almost melancholy focus of Sleeper Coach, Zelienople have arrived with Ink at perhaps the most well integrated statement of their divergent threads. Unlike the previous records, where overdubs smoothed over rough edges and instrumentation and composition were a little more standard, for Ink, Zelienople invented instruments out of boxes, springs, wire, and suspension cables, and recorded live in what sounds like a large reverberant space. The new instruments and "no overdub" philosophy moves Zelienople even further away from the monochromatic consistency of their earlier work. But what the band sacrifice in terms of a consistent tone, they more than make up for in range.

The change in modus operandi has opened up and deepened their sound in several important ways. First, and most obviously, the new instruments give immediate access to a broader (and to my ears more organic) palette of sounds. Secondly, rather than the lovely but up front songs on Sleeper Coach, the song structures on Ink are more elusive and willing to share the stage with the newly discovered and more abstract textures. Finally, the live recording really gives the listener the feeling of existing inside the music rather than experiencing it at a remove. At first seemingly split between recognizable melodic figures and sonic effects, it took a few listens to hear how well balanced the compositions on Ink actually are. Rather than distracting from foreground melodies, the intrusion of sometimes cacophonous coloration allows the listener to search out the tune or let go and fall back into the warm void. This makes for a more active listening experience but without forcing complete rapt attention.

The opening track "It's Still Hard to Steal Cars" is a relaxed restatement of the similarly titled track on Pajama Avenue. It serves as continuity for returning listeners while introducing them to the nuances of Zelienople's newfound subtler and dreamlike sound. Lacking the anchor of the original's drum beat, this version hinges upon the interaction between the droning, shifting background and Matt Christensen's low key vocals. From the creaking moan and clatter of the title track as the band navigates a hanging forest of springs and wires to the feedback hum and squeal of "Pace Car", the focus is not entirely on an amorphous body's linear movement, but also on the whirling eddies and trails created as it swims underwater. Occasionally, as on "Seroquel", the band tilts into noisier and more ominous territory as squalls of guitar form a nearly impenetrable veil. However, rather than ruining the carefully developed mood, the dissonance feels more like an evolution; an inevitable dark force that had been lurking behind earlier tracks only now announcing itself. Which is not to say that Zelienople dispensed with songs completely on Ink. In fact, "Life Is Simple"'s gentle strums and breathy vocals sounds like a lazy summer's canoe drift down a lily pad covered stream with an unplugged, but still well-opiated Jesus & Mary Chain at the helm. In "The Nod Squad", shimmering organ and rhythmic bells form a soft bed for a gorgeous spare and echoing acoustic guitar.

Ink is a leap forward for the band and validates their strategic shift in technique. By increasing the immediacy and inventiveness of their recordings, Zelienople has declared that they are ready to up the intensity and confront listeners with an expanded arsenal while still maintaining a consistent aesthetic. It's the kind of move many artists never make and reveals a predeliction for adventure I'll be listening for wherever it takes them next.

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