Stereolab's big major-label coming-out is a mouthful in more ways than one: Over the double-LP length of Transient Random..., the group stretches its interests, influences and obsessions as far as its ambitions will carry. The three-minute pop cruises of Pengi and Switched On are still recognizable here, but in a form that's been twiddled with and elongated at the ends. The English five-piece's ultra-cool `60s vibe combines the bright, kitschy cultural artifact elements with the tensile tranciness and paranoia of the good ol' Velvets, along with requisite `70s repetition experimentalists like Can (Stereolab gets more mileage out of its Can/Neu/Faust influences than anyone). While "Our Trinitone Blast" is a raucous blare by Stereolab standards, it still manages to sound detached and aloof amid squawking guitars and Laetitia Sadier's distorted, disconnected vocals. Underlying even the most dischordant waves of Noise Bursts is a steady electronic hum coursing through the entire album, as though it were pulled along by a wire, making even the 18-minute "Jenny Ondioline" fly right by. The more complex and far-reaching Stereolab's sights, the more minimal the arrangements tend to get, and that, along with the band's aesthetic emphasis, allows the above, "Tone Bursts," "Pack Your Romantic Mind" and "I'm Going Out Of My Way" to retain their surface polish and continental elan alongside the group's avant-garde aims.

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