Hooks: Figurines have 'em. Hooks everywhere. Hooks in droves.
Looking back, though, it's not so much the hooks themselves that
powered their mid-2000s breakthrough, Skeleton, but the
propulsive, nearly punkish speed at which the Danish crew blew
through them. A song like "The Wonder"-- with its slightly
sour, constantly shifting melody and singer Christian Hjelm's
vocal-- was seemingly in danger of losing its center, held
together by sheer forward motion. Their latest, the self-titled
Figurines, could benefit from some of that old pep; the spiny
hooks are still there, but you'll have to sort through an overly
fussy batch of arrangements to get to them.  2007's When the
Deer Wore Blue found Figurines tempering their furious rhythms
and tarting up their creaky tunes with somewhat symphonic psych-
pop flourishes, to its detriment. The songs were adequate, but
the adornments and sluggish pacing weighed them down. Figurines
marks a partial return to the get-up-and-go of Skeleton,
although the tempos have slowed som