MARY TIMONY BAND
The Shapes We Make

Say what you will about wifty entries. There’s nothing like the intent of a hard-charging first song to define where you’re going throughout the next nine. From the Who-ish slam and pointed talk of The Shapes We Make opener “Sharpshooter,” Mary Timony makes it clear she’s returned even more fully to the bruised bluntness of her days with Helium than she did on her last record, 2005’s Ex Hex. Timony’s vocals and their deep melodic/harmonic nods to the ladies from Concrete Blonde and Blondie probably sounded more fancy-free atop prog-rock Helium efforts like 1997’s The Magic City. And you still get the oceanic sound of watery electric pianos and stair-stumbling bass on a couple of tracks on Shapes. Heck, I even thought Steve Howe had lurched into a “Roundabout” intro on “Killed By The Telephone.” But constraining Timony’s voice and lyrics with clicking guitars and frank musicality works best. From blinking ballads (the eerily romantic, dreary desperation of “Each Day”) to sharply cruising rock with organ runs (the nicely unromantic “Pause/Off”), Timony shows off a shape that’s actually pretty tight. [Kill Rock Stars, www.killrockstars.com]

—A.D. Amorosi