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Eleventh Dream Day, "Riot Now!"
Eleventh Dream Day has got to be one of the most well-adjusted bands ever, loosely holding together for over two decades despite never quite achieving the level of success they deserved and sharing members with Freakwater and Tortoise.  More remarkable still is how well they've continued to evolve and remain vital after all this time, as 2006's Zeroes and Ones ranked among their best efforts. Riot Now! picks up right where that album left off and continues EDD's late career momentum beautifully, sounding very much like a great rock band at the top of their game.
For some reason, it took a very long time for Eleventh Dream Day to register on my radar and I always mistakenly thought they were a shoegazer band.  They most definitely aren't and I was definitely missing out.  Though Riot Now! is not quite as raucous as its title suggests, Rick Rizzo and the gang deliver a very solid album of muscular, no-frills, straightforward rock that not many people seem to know how to make anymore.  These songs all have a very "classic" feel to them, sounding like they could have been recorded at any time over the last 20 years.  A lot of that has to do with Rizzo's passion for Crazy Horse, but Eleventh Dream Day doesn’t sound retro or imitative.  Instead, they just sound immune to trends, despite being clearly informed by both punk and indie rock.
This is an album that is stronger than the sum of its parts, as I am fairly unmoved by the actual lyrical content of the songs: Rizzo tends to write about everyday life's existential struggles and frustrations with a great deal of metaphor and symbolism (trees, driving, satellites, tall men, etc.) that didn't quite connect with me.  It is probably possible to read a lot more into his songs than I did though.  Conversely, it is also possible to enjoy the album on a completely different level by taking all of his words quite literally ("man, this guy sure hates trees!").  Still, the lyrics are intelligent and Rick doesn't try to fake 20-something self-absorption and angst, which I very much appreciate.  The secret to this album's success lies more in its details.
For example, Rizzo is a pretty great guitarist (coming from someone who doesn't particularly like guitars).  He doesn't open up very often, but when he does, his solos add quite a bit to the songs (particularly the anthemic outro of "Tall Man").  They're generally pretty simple, but it seems like he means every single damn note.  Also, there is a deliberate messiness and snarl to them that would make Ira Kaplan or J. Mascis proud.  Another great thing about this album is just simple mechanics: these guys have an impressive mastery of dynamics, space, and structure.  If there is a cool bass line, like in "Maybe This Time," then it is given the necessary room to stand out. This band simply knows exactly how to construct a good, memorable song.
My favorite part of Riot Now!, however, is the fact that drummer Janet Beveridge Bean contributes energetic backing vocals to nearly every song.  It's not that her and Rizzo lock into heartbreaking harmonies or anything.  Instead, it's the fact that even the drummer is excitedly singing and shouting along with the whole damn album: it feels like the whole band is wholeheartedly into every single one these songs.  The whole album was recorded in mostly single takes too, which adds still further to the sense of vibrancy and immediacy.  That aesthetic suits the band very well.
The band isn't afraid to take chances either, as the ballad-like "Away With Words" is quite a departure.  I'm a little bit conflicted by it, as some of Bean's early backing vocals are "atmospheric" and "ethereal" in a somewhat clumsy way (like when she just bursts in with a prolonged "la").  That might have been a poor mixing decision rather than a poor aesthetic one though. However, once the song starts to gather momentum, her vocals become pretty wonderful and essential: she begins by providing a vulnerable-sounding echo to Rizzo's voice, then builds to a ghostly trill beneath the very soulful guitar solo crescendo.  It ultimately ends up turning into quite a good song.  Notably, it is completely uncharacteristic for me to love a song mostly for the backing vocals and the guitar solo, but that is the case here.  This is a historic moment.
The standout song here is probably the jangly "Divining For Water," but this is the kind of album where nearly every song could be a released as a single.  I know a lot of people swear that Prairie School Freakout or Lived to Tell are the albums to get, but Riot Now! makes a damn strong case that Eleventh Dream Day is in the midst of a second (and possibly better) golden age.
Lived to Tell will be pretty hard to top though...
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