Many complaints can be levied against New Jersey. For starters, there's the smell: driving down the New Jersey Turnpike, one passes-- often within minutes of each other-- miniature cities of oil refining machinery, various combinations of swamps and open sewers, and walled off areas emitting mysterious odors. But, to be fair, this only applies to certain areas of New Jersey. Other parts smell perfectly alright, I assure you.

Another criticism many New Yorkers are quick to hurl at ol' NJ is the insipid mallrat culture that permeates its suburban areas. Guys with baggy pants and gold chains, families of white trash wandering from store to store, men in torn, dirty shirts with mullets wandering into record stores and glaring at vacuous mall girls buying Backstreet Boys-scented soaps.

But casting aside these decidedly snobbish criticisms, the place has a lot to offer, at least in terms of interesting scenery. Ignoring the odiferous sections, there's an alarming, unnatural diversity to the state that's at times downright alarming. In New Jersey, you can drive through three miles of picturesque corn fields, dotted with the occasional yard sale or farmers' market, and then find yourself at the intersection of two major highways on the cusp of a row of office complexes. It's a bizarre juxtaposition of natural beauty and fuckly industrialism, and one that doesn't always make sense.

The husband/wife team known as Blinder currently reside in New Jersey, and it seems that with Calamity a Foot Behind, they've taken a cue from their surroundings. On one hand, we have the angular guitar, bass, and drums attack that sounds like it could've been lifted directly off of any Dischord release circa 1994. Sharply contrasting this gritty sound are the vocals of lead singer Megan Wendell, who belts out occasionally annoying lyrics with a voice that's crystal clear and vaguely operatic. The result is a sometimes compelling, sometimes disjointed album that will alternately have you shaking your ass and scratching your head.

When Blinder is at their best, they attain a spastic, twisted, slightly manic groove which could best be described as Shudder to Think meets Sleater-Kinney. Wiry and remarkably tight, the best portions of Calamity a Foot Behind occur when Megan Wendell's soaring vocal melodies bounce off the freaky instruments that back her, resulting in a truly awesome sonic assault.

Unfortunately, like their home state, Blinder could stand to be more consistent. And also like their home state, Blinder does not always make sense. Occasionally, Wendell's voice just doesn't seem to gel with the rest of the band, and the result seems thrown together and illogical. And then there are the lyrics: for the most part, they're are fine, but when lines like, "And if I act a little emotional, if I act recklessly/ Please don't hold this against me/ I am still breathing/ I am still breathing," enter the mix, it's obviously not that pleasant a sensation.

But despite being fairly inconsistent and sometimes lyrically trite, Calamity a Foot Behind stands on its own, a fine rock record-- especially for those of you with a tolerance for some degree of dissonance. Walking the line between beauty and battery is not easy, and Blinder does it admirably well.

-Matt LeMay