Modern rock quartet Ism provide an electronically-manipulated listening experience chock full of melancholy with URGENCY, the NYC troupe’s latest 12-track offering. This disc juxtaposes the technological desolation of NIN with the scattershot edginess of latter-day U2, whipping up a somewhat forced array of shadowy tracks such as “Postlude” and “Sacred Cow” that dubiously fall between a sound too tough for the lounge and too soft for the moshpit. Tracks such as “Graffiti” give Tom Morello a run for his money on the whammy bar while the forlorn feel given off from “Fly” takes a turn into ’80s New Wave with a Brit-pop twist. If you dig Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Bravery, or Coldplay at their most haunting, then Ism is a band worth checking out. www.stmrecords.com –Mike SOS