by Heather PharesRun On reached a very happy medium of innovative and accessible music with their 1996 full-length debut, Start Packing. The creative arrangements on the album's 12 songs add horns, marimbas, organs and electronics to complex guitar and drum patterns, whipping them all into an invigorating blast on songs like the album's first two songs (Tried and Baap). Tried's propulsive rhythm and noisy guitars duel with Sue Garner's exhilarated wail, while her street-smart hiss makes Baap's jittery bop all the more seductive. On both songs, Run On retains all the power of rock and the artfulness of jazz. Go There also captures a jazzy, slinky nastiness and harnesses it to droning organs and guitars. Run On's pop side also shines on Start Packing, particularly on Doesn't Anybody Love the Dark, the album's bounciest, and strangely enough, sunniest moment. Though more downcast, A to Z also features tight, expressive songwriting, smart lyrics and endearingly adolescent vocals from guitarist Alan Licht, along with one of the album's best arrangements -- a minimal use of marimba, guitar, maracas and voice used to maximum effect. Xmas Trip starts off like Jerry Lee Lewis' Breathless, features a beautiful trumpet solo from David Newgarden and references Bernadette Peters and CBGB's in one breath, and makes it sound completely natural -- no small feat. Start Packing's scope also includes the group's noisy side, as the distortion-driven Miscalculation and sprawling, syncopated Coffee attest. Just as easily, Run On quiets down on the elegiac You Said and even wears their hearts on their sleeves with Tell Me and In Strength, Garner's shout-out to her best friend. Though their grip on holding so many elements together falters a bit on the second half of the album, Start Packing is nevertheless an exciting and accomplished blend of diverse and often contrary creative forces. Easily one of the best and most eclectic indie-rock albums of the mid-'90s.