If cymbals do indeed diet on guitars, it’s not without a struggle from the latter if this Staten Island foursome is anything to go on. The guitars here aren’t just passive omnivores, simply serving as prey for the carnivorous drumbeat. Instead, every element sounds like it’s elbowing the others out of the way to take center stage. On Cymbals Eat Guitars‘ debut album "Why There Are Mountains" they manipulate their guitars to full effect. They act as melody carriers, provide emotional haze and even rip the occasion Prince-esque wiggle. In fact, from the crashing cymbals of ‘And The Hazy Sea’, a six minute “quiet-loud-quiet-loud” epic thrown into reverse to the feedback drenched haze and jaunty brit-pop melody of ‘Indiana’, Why There Are Mountains was one of the most confident guitar albums in recent memory, and one fully deserving of the good vibrations generated by the hype machine in first quarter of 2009. The band is currently touring Europe – their next NYC show (at Irving Plaza) is scheduled for mid October. – Dean Van Nguyen