Mike Feuerstack, member of Kepler and the Wooden Stars, goes way downbeat with his fifth solo release as Snailhouse. But that?s not to say that this brief album drags; it?s unhurried, but not dull or indulgent. Feuerstack?s approach is a mature and polished one, not unlike the later work of the Spinanes/Rebecca Gates, with tasteful keyboards complementing perfectly-mixed guitars and hardly a melancholy note out of place. Only the occasional quaver in his voice betrays a typical indie-shamble sensibility. You can?t call it ebullient, and some of the later songs drift a bit in a strangely mathy way (?Chimney Sweep,? with its dissonant guitar figures and stilted rhythms), but Feuerstack?s measured lyrical sorrow and his restrained guitar playing keep your attention nonetheless. Feuerstack hangs with some current indie royalty (Bell Orchestre, Arcade Fire), but his songs are worth a listen on their own, no matter their company. 7/10 -- Sal Addays (17 July, 2006)