Sixteen Deluxe has a bit of a reputation to uphold; they've been tagged the "loudest band in Austin," and generated a big buzz in more ways than one at Austin's own South By Southwest Music Festival a few years back. Emits Showers of Sparks certainly won't sully that reputation any; it's an album whose optimum enjoyment factor depends directly upon how loud the volume is. Sixteen Deluxe's guitars are the sonic equivalent of a padded room-- thick, heavy fuzz with enough psychedelic flourish to suggest heavy involvement in drugs and/ or mental instability. Top it off with some ethereal female vocals, a predilection for classic pop chord changes, and a few choice covers (Brian Eno's "Here Come The Warm Jets" and Big Star's "Kangaroo" from their 1995 debut album Backfeedmagnetbabe), and the description alone makes Sixteen Deluxe sound like a pretty good band.

Unfortunately, volume seems to be all that Sixteen Deluxe have going for them; Emits Showers of Sparks' songs are borne from a host of favorable influences, but fail to rise above the rank of mediocre imitation. "Let It Go" recalls the best guitar sounds of Medicine and Pale Saints; "Lullaby" sounds suspiciously like Jessamine; "Honey" is pure My Bloody Valentine guitar swoon; "Captain Kirk's Z-Man House Of Fun Mixed Up" is an amped-up Mazzy Star and September 67 in a drowsy, lengthy jam session. But while the aforementioned bands are chock full of raw creativity, Sixteen Deluxe don't have enough songwriting ability to back up their sonic appropriation of their influences.

Another unfavorable development is Sixteen Deluxe's move away from the atmospheric washes of Backfeedmagnetbabe to a more straight-up rock sound on Emits Showers of Sparks, since they just can't cut it writing traditional hooks. Also, as a result of Sixteen Deluxe's more "accessible" sound, guitarist/ vocalist Carrie Clark finds it necessary to raise her voice above a slurry mumble, which only serves as a reminder that the band's lyrics are less than inspired. It bottoms out around "Purple" ("I think I think you thought something/ A chair is something else" and the "I don't know anything at all" refrain suggests that they improvised lyrics on the spot and never bothered to change them) and "Mexico Train," whose arch-hip drug references are just a little too irritating. It just goes to show that loud amps and good influences alone don't a good band make.

-Nick Mirov