Arms Down is Get Him Eat Him's sophomore offering on Absolutely Kosher. I'm a huge fan of Get Him Eat Him's first record, Geography Cones, and I've even been known to comment favorably on their demo, Casual Sex. This album isn't going to make any converts, but that isn't necessarily bad. If you like Get Him Eat Him, you will like this. If you don't, skip it. I think it's fantastic. I've realized what it is about GHEH that draws me in. If you listen to their songs, you will spend the first minute or so, usually the verses, saying, "OK, this is a rock song," and it's easy to tune out there, but you shouldn't, because, what Get Him Eat Him does that I haven't experienced anywhere else is to hide one perfect musical moment, one brilliant chord progression or verbal trill, in an otherwise very ordinary song.

That sounds like a criticism, but it isn't, because when you hear that one perfect moment in each song, a chill runs down your spine, and on a per song basis, I don't think any other band delivers as many chills. They have a high chill ratio.

Fantastic Hawk is the latest release on Absolutely Kosher by Bottom of the Hudson. I had their Riot Act EP, which I think I got as part of a "every album we released this year" package a couple of years back. It was good. Good enough that with only six songs, they're sitting pretty at #41 on my last.fm profile with 136 listens (compare with GHEH's 335 to see just how much I love Geography Cones). So the band had enough currency with me to assure that I was going to get it, but I fully expected it to be the side dish to a Get Him Eat Him main course. In fact it was the opposite. While Arms Down is a great record, Fantastic Hawk blows it away. As far as I can tell, there isn't a dog on the record, and I consider that high praise–my all-time favorite record, The Meadowlands (The Wrens) has two tracks I normally skip. There is something… hard to place exactly, but there is a Psychedelic Furs quality to the vocals on the record that really compliments the guitar work.

The only downside I can see from the record is that the consistency of the songs means that there just aren't any standouts (at least no early favorites have emerged in the week I've had it), so it's hard to see what I will integrate into heterogeneous playlists. It may be that tracks from Fantastic Hawk only get played while I am listening to the whole record.

Now, some unpleasant business:

I didn't want to mention this until I had reviewed the record, because it dominates the actual review, but Absolutely Kosher is reporting that Bottom of the Hudson had a serious accident in their tour van on Sunday night, and unfortunately, bass player Trevor Butler lost his life. Drummer Greg Lytle is also still hospitalized, though as of the latest update, he has stabilized. Absolutely Kosher has set up a fund accepting donations for the band (it is important to remember that they are an indie rock band and no millionaires), and you can help out at http://absolutelykosher.com. Of course, buying the record would also help out.