Longtime Ladybug Transistor drummer San Fadyl passed away shortly before the release of April’s Can’t Wait Another Day, succumbing to the severe asthma attacks he’d been fighting for a year. This is tragic enough in itself, but Can’t Wait… finds the Brooklyn quintet at the top of their game. “This Old Chase” is a monolithic, Springsteen-esque rocker that jumps out of the middle of the Rhodes-steeped album like…well, hell, a monolith. Not quite what you might expect from these alumni of the storied Elephant 6 collective, who have managed to master their delicate sonic aesthetic amidst ever-shifting expectations and numerous lineup changes. Through it all, Ladybug Transistor defies definition by filling the spaces between, but now I want to hear them cover “Atlantic City.” — Chris Henderson
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2007.