[4 maple leafs out of five]

I read that researchers have grown frog eyes in a lab using the amphibian’s embryonic cells. Scientists are hoping to someday grow human eyes from our very own cells. If the idea of embryonic, home grown eyeballs staring at you from a petri dish makes you uncomfortable, then you are one step closer to getting the genuine feel of Victoria, British Columbia’s Frog Eyes’ latest release: The Folded Palm.

The record begins with a few simple drumbeats that by no means prepare the listener for singer Carey Mercer’s sonic death troughs. His vocals are clearly the standout aspect of the band; it’s everything that Isaac Brock wishes he could be, and the high-pitched answer to Tom Waits’ grunting. This band is perfectly weird. The fluttering between all-out screaming, dying, and whispering is very well crafted, with subtle piano bits, gentle percussions, and dizzying guitars.

Songs such as “New Soft Motherhood Alliance” gently evoke a rainy circus feel, but it’s discreet enough to avoid ever being considered thematic or theatrical. Other tracks like “I Like Dot Dot Dot” and “Important Signals Will Break the Darkness” include merely one sentence’s worth of lyrics. Through Mercer’s vocal range and layering of the sound, mood, and melody, the listener would never pick up on the lyrical repetition. The lyrics, as a whole, are a markedly strong area for Frog Eyes.

A number of songs include question marks, quotations, exclamation points, and parentheses that discuss topics anywhere from dwarfed men to the French boarder patrol, and a few references to ponies.

The folded Palm is an interesting and well-crafted record from a band that continues to tighten their sound and style with each release. If this band comes to Boston anytime soon, I can only imagine how they will schizophrenically slaughter us with the mental ward soundtrack they create