Adam Pierce's makeshift glitch-rock ensemble Mice Parade edges closer to coherence on its self-titled seventh album, which moves the band's rapidly strummed guitars and freeform drumming up in the mix, while Pierce holds the songs together with his tight, cool monotone. To some extent, Mice Parade is just another Tortoise-inspired indie-fusion act, only with vocals. But those vocals make a huge difference, as Pierce sets a wistful tone that carries this album from the busy, swinging opener "Sneaky Red" to the skittering, rich-hued closer "The Nights After Fiction." Mice Parade is a record steeped in sophistication and modern anxiety, rendered in multiple shades of beat-crazy.
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