Melt

The second album from New Zealand's Straitjacket Fits suggests that perhaps the Kiwi quartet had been listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins records in the couple of years since their debut, 1988's Hail, was released. Nearly every note of Melt is covered in the sort of gauzy reverb and pillowy echo that characterizes the Twins' albums, and at times, the atmosphere overpowers the songs. (Perhaps it's the fault of producer Gavin MacKillop, who similarly dominated the production of the Chills' Soft Bomb a couple years later.)