***
The Building Press' frontman, A. P. Schroder, once told me that the band has a difficult time getting on the right lineups, since their music is a little sharp-cornered even compared to most math rock acts out there. But the trio's jutting riffs, stop-start rhythms, sandpapered textures, and stuttered tempos work to the band's advantage, especially when the squalls that sound like the controlled clatter of tumbling feedback thin instantly into hushed guitar melodies that hang in near silence. On their sophomore LP, Young Money, the band finesses the art of irregular timing and tension-building dynamics on moody, mostly instrumental songs. When Schroder does choose to sing, his words leave a sting that resonates with the intensity of an introvert exploding into argument, pushing the feeling of an emotional breaking point straight to the surface before smoothing it back inside the songs. The second act from this Seattle band continues to place them in difficult-to-pin-down territory, but their music offers the kind of splintering angles that manage to stick deep beneath your skin. JENNIFER MAERZ

The Building Press CD release show is Tuesday, March 16, at Chop Suey with Old Time Relijun and Water Kill the Sun, 9 pm, $6.

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION + SOLBAKKEN

In the Fishtank 11

(Konkurrent)

****
With a band known to produce consistently dark yet beautiful music, it's hard to understand just what it is that makes this San Diego quintet's new collaboration with Dutch prog rockers Solbakken so damn difficult to take in actively. It might be the sheer weight of it--all the songs are ripe to bursting with deeply toned instrumentation. It surely has something to do with the inability to decipher most of the lyrics, which are enveloped in thick layers of reverb. And guest vocalist Rachael (her last name is a mystery) sings in French. "A Taste of You and Me" is a piano-driven bit of pop that spins the established somberness of the album like a face turned upward to absorb the sun. It's a complicated album, to be sure. But as soon as you get your head around it, the record is a work of cinematic beauty. KATHLEEN WILSON

THE GET UP KIDS

Guilt Show

(Vagrant)

**
Some fans argue that the Get Up Kids have yet to release an album that can stack up to 1997's Four Minute Mile, which was a raw, sincere attempt at displaying a storm of emotions. And some fans may be right.

With each release since Four Minute (Something to Write Home About, On a Wire, and now Guilt Show), it's becoming more apparent that the band is maturing into a group of songwriters less concerned with adolescent insight, as they're no longer making records that offer a cushion for the masses of emotionally awkward teens who might be experiencing the same feelings as the band once had. They're writing multipurpose pop songs without a whole lot of personal attachment.

So with that in mind, I suppose Guilt Show isn't bad. It's a well-polished record accented with lots of pretty accompanying instruments (piano, bells, strings) and a little bit of the harder-edged rock attitude sneaking through now and again. Listening to Guilt, there's no denying that the GUKs can write a good pop song. But the overall success of this record will still exist on a personal level for a lot of listeners. Are you looking for Four Minute Mile? Are you looking for heart? Or are you looking for disposable fun? Mindlessly catchy records don't always hit as hard, but they're nice to have around--until they get old. And unfortunately, I don't think Guilt Show has enough of the band's old insight to make it stick, or keep it from growing stale. MEGAN SELING

LIBRARY SCIENCE

High Life Honey

(Happi Tyme Records)

**1/2
Library Science's debut, High Life Honey, is a dubious success. Dubious because, while you won't find fault with the musicianship or concepts, at the end of listening to the disc you can't help feeling that something is missing, that one more element would've helped it to become something truly special. The Seattle group consists of four members--Peter Lynch from the Melody Unit, Courtney Barnebey and Andy Arkley from the Bran Flakes, and drummer Tony Sacco--and their music instantly recalls that of Phase Selector Sound, a brilliant dub duo based in Nashville, Tennessee. Both bands experiment with dusty and dated equipment, and rarely produce dubs that are fast, passionate, or aggressive, like their London-based contemporary Jah Warrior. There is, however, a big difference between the two, as Library Science's dubs are light and simple, whereas Phase Selector Sound's are heavy and complex--indeed, several tracks on Sound's 1999 Disassemble Dub, the predecessor to High Life Honey, are completely submerged in water worlds of echoes. But for all that Library Science loses in echo art they regain in their masterful use of the melodica, the definitive dub instrument. Most of the band's tracks house, for brief or long passages, the phantom breath of the most beautiful instrument in the world. CHARLES MUDEDE

**** riding for free *** ass ** grass * cash