Sparta - Porcelain

The second album from Sparta gives me faith in the belief that the establishment of emo-elitism can be rocked within the confines of big daddy Dreamworks. Sparta does not lose focus of the searing, spontaneous, spaz rock that sets them far above their peers while putting this effort on a major label. I find myself following the epic journey throughout a majority of the tracks rather than losing interest in other indie brethren because of bowel induced time shifts in song. While the other half of the former At The Drive In, The Mars Volta, may be a bit more progressive in sound, Sparta lays out the harder sector with no apologies. Tracks like “Guns of Memorial Park,” a catchy number with the right combo of guitar crunch and chorus love, set the standard for Porcelain from the get-go. Porcelain is a complete album that can rock between vintage punk throwdown and storytelling music manifesto. [www.spartamusic.com]