These days, a new Antietam album feels like a rare occurrence, almost the rock equivalent of Halley's comet. It's not that the trio has been absent from

These days, a new Antietam album feels like a rare occurrence, almost the rock equivalent of Halley's comet. It's not that the trio has been absent from the music world, the members have certainly kept busy with various projects and the same line-up plays on Tara Key's two solo albums, but from the very first track, you forget that almost 10 years have past since the band's last proper album Rope-a-Dope.

In late 2002, Tara Key, Tim Harris and Josh Madell (who incidentally is a co-owner of Other Music) assembled in an old beach house for most of the recording. With Tara Jane O'Neil engineering the tape console, Victory Park is far from overcooked mirroring the band's eclectic, electric sounds. It's immediately apparent, from the southern-fried rock groove of album opener "New Parade" to the Byrds-y guitars in track two, "Attract Mode." (Key's vocal melody in the former is anthemic with a trumpet solo that seems to be announcing the band's return.)

Key has always been seen as Antietam's MVP, her guitar guiding every song, from folky passages to effect-laden sonic blasts of noise, but always delivered with an emotional wallop to the ears and head. And when she belts it out, you almost forget what decade you're in - during the proto-punk rocker "Stowaway" she sings with the poetic venom of Patti Smith.

But co-founder (and her husband) Harris deserves equal credit, knowing when to play a fluid bassline underneath Key's distorted power chord strums, or to instinctively hang on a low note and give her the space to deliver a fierce guitar solo. His breathy baritone works especially well against her often-mystical vocal melodies, especially in the spacey "Skying." Harris' cello also shapes one of Victory Park's most introspective moments, "Chronicle of a Gift Horse" - a moody, cinematic instrumental that features a guest appearance from Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan.

Through their band history, which spans nearly 20 years, Antietam have always been considered one of rock's best kept secrets. Victory Park reaffirms this. In these days of skinny ties and big music marketing budgets, it's assuring to see an old favorite alive and well making the best music of their lives. [GH] (April 7, 2004)