Nazca Lines' Cremation/Cruises, while lengthy and a bit spotty, is an overall solid debut that brings to mind luminaries like Jawbox and Burning Airlines.
The Seattle outfit sport the same set of guitar techniques as their post-punk predecessors, whether it's jagged riffing, distorted atmospheres or general wandering. "The Raven Remembers" is a good example, as it contains all of this with some aggressive frat-boy condemning in its first line or so ("back off, you motherfuckers with your white hats and your date-rape keggers"). "Cannibals Feed Often" is a five-minute, spazzy number with a weird, stomping bass line. "The Ticket" starts off deceptively quiet with drumstick clicks and soft riffs, a trick they should use more often. "Four-Star Plagiarism" is a cool little number with a lot of time changes, some handclaps, and instrument drop-outs, making it a standout.
Cremation/Cruises has a lot of sound ideas, but they merely stay curiously interesting for most of the album's 45-minute running time, as opposed to fully engaging. It's a little bit of a chore to spend three-quarters of an hour waiting for a truly gripping moment every so often, after all.
