What races around, jumping from stack to stack, hanging from the light fixtures barking out rants of enigmatic proportions, and can stare through you like the eyes of the ill-reputed Charles Manson? It sounds like some sort of scientific-test-animal-gone-awry, I know, but if you've ever seen Les Savy Fav live, you'd probably shake your head and confidently state that I must be describing the band's lead nutcase, Tim Harrington. While the LP packaging may not be as witty as the band's first release (it came wrapped in shower caps -- and was a fine slab o' vinyl to boot), The Cat and the Cobra still possesses equal parts off-kilter rhythmic madness and sassy, surprisingly sincere energy that'll capture your heart as it whisks away your breath with eclipsing riffs and cagey time changes. That may sound like an appropriate description of The Jesus Lizard, but this Brooklyn quintet is a far cry from cramming itself into the "another noise-rock band" dead end.

What was previously a bulbous mass of cooped-up energy has become a more reserved outfit. They're just as comfortable cruising through a steady-tempo number that forgoes politeness for ambling pensiveness as they are galloping through the band's trademark slash and burn numbers, gracefully balancing on a rickety combination of shaky sonic beams and trembling towers of lyrical lechery. "Who Rocks the Party" gears toward the old-school fabulous Fav sound of raging testosterone siphoned through complex meter changes, while numbers like "The Orchard" and "The End" opt for a more toned and defined sound that shows that the band has matured, without trading in its penchant for all things acerbic. It’s rare that a cognizant peep can emerge from the seemingly limited rock field, but Les Savy Fav have taken on this challenge and burst forth with a tightly wound sound that has shed its freshman unsteadiness and become a smoothly running machine, walking the line between overt aggression and the cunning confidence and fiery flair of its steadfast beats.