Wicked Branches - Premium Halloween Decorations for Spooky Home & Party Scenes | Outdoor & Indoor Halloween Decor

**Review originally appeared at https://midnighttosix.wordpress.comFans of old-school shoegaze will find cause for celebration in Wicked Branches, the second album from Dayton’s Ohio’s Lab Partners. The band clearly has worn out the grooves on their Ride records, and it shows in the epic, yet sharply focused, sound they’ve cultivated since forming back in 1998 (and in their decision to call the eighth track on Wicked Branches “Ride”). Their musical influences from the late-’80s and early-’90s are meshed together with the modern sound of bands like The Dandy Warhols (Lab Partners use keyboards to play bass parts) and BRMC (see “It’s How You Feel”) to create something that is overly familiar, and still very enticing. What impresses me most is that, even with most of their songs checking in over the five-minute mark, Lab Partners never lose themselves in any musical wankery, even though they probably could pull it off well if they wanted to. Come for the swirling guitars, and stay for “Now” – a song that could be a hit single in an alternate universe where things are much cooler.