Having never seen Tenement’s apparently incredible live show, all I’ve got to go off of is this, their second collection of odds and ends. The band has long been lauded as amazing and as potent as the discovery of both pizza and beer, and they certainly do seem competent and willing to test the murky waters of genre. Buuuuut, apart from a scattering of tracks where they play a kind of self-assured guitar-heavy pop, it’s just not quite clicking with me. I don’t quite get the allure. Extensive packaging—glossy poster, insert, download code—but not a single supposedly incredible lyric to be found anywhere, so I’m missing out on that element of it, and while they do have an interesting amalgam of genres sometimes going on (hints of soul, hardcore, pop, and punk all writhe in the structures), all told it’s just a little lacking in ferocity and cohesion for me. Admittedly, it’s a singles collection, maybe cohesion’s beside the point, and maybe Bruised Music Vol. 2 isn’t the best jumping-off point. Hell, you already know you’re getting this anyway, right? –Keith Rosson (Toxic Pop)