Lebanon - Planet Rubble (CD)

All Music Guide

Good oldfashioned math rock in the classic mid'90s style, Lebanon is not from Louisville or Chicago, but Tel Aviv. (Yes, they're an Israeli band called Lebanon. Go figure.) Their allinstrumental debut consists of ten lengthy slices of neoprogressive heavy guitar rock, filled with all the requisite fleetfingered soloing, tricky time signature shifts and stop on a dime dynamics that fans of bands like Polvo or Don Cabellero would require, mixed with a little bit of stoner rock heaviness in the manner of At The DriveIn or the Mars Volta. Planet Rubble is more than competent, and certainly a fine addition to a style that's no longer particularly welltrafficked, but there's little to entice the casual listener. The twin guitar solos aren't especially dramatic, drummer Ira Morstyn isn't particularly exciting beyond the expected ability to execute the occasional flashy paradiddle, and there are few moments of jawdropping instrumental frenzy. For serious math rock fans only, then.

- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide