The band's immaculately crafted third album, Like a Fire Without Sound, infuses the pop sensibilities of Eno and Yo La Tengo while maintaining the personal eccentricities and atmospheric flourishes that have always set Should apart: the ultra-sweet male/female vocal melodies, the penchant for the unexpected, and the ability to find beauty in the minimal. Like a Fire Without Sound was conceived and recorded over a five-year period, and infuses idiosyncratic indie flair with pleasing pop sensibilities. Bookended by Eno-esque tributes "Glasshouse" and "The Great Pretend," the hook-laden record is simultaneously spacious and intimate. Eschewing the fashionable trend of burying production in cavernous lo-fi reverb and fuzz, Like a Fire Without Sound is not warmed-over 1990s-era Should. The layers of fuzzed guitar have been peeled back and the pop quotient is dialed up considerably, aiming instead to balance the twin peaks of soundcraft and songcraft. The end result of these efforts is an unpredictable record that — like Eno's early pop albums — endures and is not easily ascribed to a particular era. Timeless yet out-of-place, it's the unwavering soundtrack to daydreams of life's losses and loves.
