Dikembe Mediumship

Halfway through it's first track-a bobbing, bittersweet number called "Even Bother"-it might seem safe to assume that Dikembe's sophomore record, Mediumship, is more interested in melody than mood. Absent are the scrunchy chords and rhythmic temper-tantrums that made Broad Shoulders, the Gainesville band's first full-length, so mesmerizing. In their stead, Mediumship favors dynamics and depth and space to explore. Songs like "Mad Frustrated" feature the sorts of twisted guitar leads that worm into one's subconsciousness. On topsy-turvy tracks like "Pelican Fly," the guitars totter against a snapping, spurring drumbeat; here, singer Steven Gray's voice seems softer, but much more versatile and stirring than on previous recordings. These songs haunt, to say the least, maybe because the band has nudged melody further to the forefront.