Elevator music. Perhaps “background at a party” music. But definitely, definitely not “roll down the windows in the middle of the summer with the sunglasses on” music.

Lead singer of Centro-Matic, Will Johnson, dislikes opening his mouth throughout the course of his new album Fort Recovery. The lack of pronunciation makes understanding many of the songs impossible, while portraying the notion of a less-talented Isaac Brock.

A prime example of Johnson’s Brock impression is track two on Fort Recovery, entitled “Calling Thermatico,” which also happens to be the first lyric. Every few stanzas the listener can pick up a few words, but it takes about four or five strenuous replays to pick up, for example, the second part of the first line — “’cause he may have options.” The whining voice imitation becomes incredibly difficult to get past, especially because most the tracks sound the same.

A few of the better, although very similar, songs include track seven “The Fugitives Have Won,” eight, “Monument Sails,” and 10, “Nothin’ I Ever Seen.” In all these, Johnson’s voice remains audible past the typical bleeding of lyrics — resulting in only remnants of a potentially good song.

When everything seems bleak, boring and repetitive, just as the hand is reaching for the “eject” button of the compact disk player, perhaps track four will begin as an offering to the loyal listener who has miraculously made it past the first three tracks. “I See Through You” is by far the best song on the album. Mostly acoustic, Johnson’s voice does not only sound soothing, it’s inspired. The lines, “Day has gone/ The night time is breathing/ And our work is done/ And I know all is golden till our morning comes,” are simply beautiful. If the entire album came across nearly as brilliant, it would be a masterpiece.

Unfortunately, though, the rest of the album is not nearly as amazing, especially tracks six, “For New Starts,” and 12, “Take a Rake.” Just skip these, or Johnson’s exclamation, “Take a rake to our mouths,” might seem like an appropriate response. “Take a Rake” is not only the last song on the disk, it’s also the longest at just below six minutes.

When the album is released March 7, three additional songs will be included in a double vinyl version. These three songs are entitled “Bucket Full of Nails,” “Not Like Anyone Would Mind” and “Gunmetal and Engines,” and they were not available for review. Hopefully they will resemble “I See Through You” and not the rest of Fort Recovery.