Maybe a balance as shaky as Magik Markers� could only last so long. The aggressive estrogen of the duo that made You Can�t Fuck a Clock had to either gain composure or fall apart. And through the Sonic Youthification of Boss, they�ve gained a surprising composure. Produced by Lee Ranaldo and released on Thurston Moore�s label (which also released 2005�s I Trust My Guitar, Etc�) the new album puts the Markers on the route that the Youth took years before (going from chaotic scream to choreographed growl), but it�s also the route that most extreme rock bands go if they last more than a few years. To paraphrase the dichotomy put forth by Neil Young (singing about Johnny Rotten), you can either burn out or fade away.

And Magik Markers are too good to fade away. Putting them into the nine-song grid of Boss doesn�t really lessen them, it�s just different. There are verses and choruses � there�s a piano ballad, for heaven�s sake � but the attack drones of Elisa Ambrogio�s guitar and her wailing voice are still there, and Pete Nolan�s drums are still solid and pulsating behind her. Once you get past the set-of-songs format, it�s a great rock record. And that�s what�s great about rock records: Never Mind the Bullocks, Confusion is Sex and You Can�t Fuck a Clock haven�t gone anywhere, even if there makers have moved on.