It has been awhile since The Chambermaids released their debut LP on Modern Radio in 2006. However, the band has been plenty busy since then. During that time the band has added a second guitar player in Nate Nelson (STNNNG/Private Dancer) and a new drummer in Mickey Kahleck (ex-Shotgun Monday/Chibalo). Original drummer Colin Johnson left to focus on Vampire Hands shortly after recording on Down in the Berries. With a solid lineup and Martha back in the country after a teaching stint in Austria, The Chambermaids are poised to return as a force in the Twin Cities music community. On first listen, The Chambermaids second album Down in the Berries, sounds like one of those lost and forgotten 70s art-punk records put out by Flying Nun or 4AD that give collectors wet dreams and keep Ebay fanatics awake at night. There s a bristling intensity to the seven tracks on the Twin Cities-based four piece s latest effort that recalls the quiet menace of British post-punk stalwarts Wire or shoegaze innovators My Bloody Valentine. But this is no throwback record. Certainly, the core sibling duo of Neil (vocals/ guitar) and Martha Weir (vocals/bass), alongside guitarist Nate Nelson and drummer Mickey Kahleck, knows their music history. They also know how to make it. Neil has recorded some of the most exciting bands playing today, at his studio, The Old Blackberry Way, Cannon Falls famed Pachyderm Studio and the University of Minnesota s Radio K. He s recorded with local favorites like Vampire Hands, Gospel Gossip and Daughters of the Sun. And he s worked with national acts like The Breeders, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Jay Reatard for Radio K. This careful approach to both the technical and aesthetic aspects of rock n roll is subtly evident in each track on the album. The Chambermaids themselves have shared the stage with the likes of Grant Hart, Tapes n Tapes, and Calvin Johnson. The band s first, self-titled album was critically-acclaimed and Down in the Berries promises even more of the same. This album comes with digital download card as well.