Formaldehyde/How To Make Friends And Influence People/Regular Urban Survivors

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineTerrorvision's second album, Regular Urban Survivors, demonstrates a substantial growth from their engagingly eclectic but unfocused debut, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Working with producer Gil Norton, the band has developed an irreverent, catchy amalgam of metal, punk, and pop. Though their guitars clank away, they have bright, fizzy hooks that keep the band from sinking into a mass of loud, grinding grunge. Terrorvision may have gotten their sound together, but they still have a hard time coming up with consistently entertaining material. Nevertheless, their humor pulls them through the moments their hooks don't catch hold.