With its fuzzed-out guitar lines and minimalist drumming, A Crooked Line’s opening track “Running Out Of Space” is The Interiors’ attempt to convince you that they are just another garage rock revival band. Those that come to this conclusion, however, are just too quick to judge as it is far from the truth.

Not until A Crooked Line’s title track does the band expose the influence of African music on their music. Introduced with a muted staccato line from Chase Duncan, “A Crooked Line” relies heavily on the percussion work of Brian Lubinsky. His steady hi-hat and rim shots provide a sturdy drive to the relaxed tone of Duncan’s vocals and it’s when Duncan takes a laid-back approach that the songs are at their best. He is able to work up a respectable howl on “Rush Street, 1970”, but even with some frantic guitar work the song pales in comparison to the less aggressive tracks.

Closing track “All The Cities” is the most atmospheric of the five tracks on the EP and as on “A Crooked Line”, Lubinsky’s drumming plays an important role. The light rhythm of the toms ring slightly filling out the hazy air set by the guitar and bass. The mood of “All The Cities” carries beyond the twenty minutes of A Crooked Line. If The Interiors can focus on the strengths of “A Crooked Line”, “Song Of Complaint”, and “All The Cities”, their next release should prove to be consistently strong.