The band once again shifts the sonics of their attack on this album, though even amid its weirdness, proves to be more accessible to a wider audience. Woozy guitar counterpoints punk-inflected vocals that are smoothed out by overdubbed harmonies on the chorus. The normally rough edges of noise-rock smoothed out by the more refined nuances of their songwriting to create a more 90s style atl-rock not unlike the bar-room brooding of the Afghan Whigs. The vocals serve a greater purpose than they did even on the last album.
They return to their more grunge-influenced side on "Entwined" though the cadence of the vocals and some of the guitar tones carry a more Brti-poppy mood, like a more angular and discordant take on the Stone Roses. "99" is more experimental in the ways its sounds are introduced, as the song invokes multiple moods just in the verse and chorus. This is one of the band's most dynamic moments yet. The multiple vocal tracks that chime in on the chorus, is the moment that is puzzling but still works. The drummer just keeps hammering things perfectly and might be the strongest drumming performance I have heard on an album so far this year.
Indie rock collides with punk on "Superior Mirage". This is taken to a more shimmering place with a surreal dream pop element to its swirl of sound. "Wound Tight" has a catchy almost pop hook to it despite all the jangling guitar colliding around it. It's more punk than most punk bands these days. They remind you that indie rock should actually rock. Echoes of Bob Mould's influence linger around the drive of "Never Still Again". My suspicions of the influence shoe-gaze has on this album are confirmed when they fully commit to it on the last song. Amber Webber of Black Mountain, lends her voice to the song, that I had to google to see if it was a long-forgotten Jesus and Mary Chain b-side. I will give this album a 10, as it's an impressive showing of growth that is also an infectious listen, this will be one of the album's to beat at the end of the year.
pst178
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