Breach

Denmark's exquisite Kissaway Trail scaled down from a quintet to a trio as real-life tension and success took their tolls. Despite word that the remaining members had to relearn how to talk musically to one another, there's no communication breakdown apparent on this crucial third album. There's just the sound of an assured rock-pop band that knows how to make a noise 10,000 times grander than seems possible. Compared previously to Arcade Fire and The Polyphonic Spree, Kissaway Trail now colors beyond those territories with the cheeky grandeur of "The Springsteen Implosion" and the wailing angst of "Sarah Jevo." A chugging electronic groove worthy of The Raveonettes swerves into view for "Beauty Still Rebels." Dual singer/songwriters Soren Corneliussen and Thomas Fagerlund take advantage of every alleged limit, and with drummer Hasse Mydtskov they pound their way through to the other side. The punkish energy behind the decadent flash of "So Sorry, I'm Not" suggests what The Jesus and Mary Chain might've sounded like if they'd started with 30+ years' worth of technology and toys to play with.