Institute : " Ragdoll Dance"

 

Not sure what these guys are trying to do, but it sounds like they intend to take things back to the crossroads where punk, met rock n roll. While this is not as dark as what I have heard from them on previous albums, the guitar playing wanders around the neck in a more mathy fashion rather than just banging out the chords like most punk bands do. I can hear the Stooges and Television in their influences this time around. The vocals have more swagger. On "All the Time" it becomes evident that is new jammy feel the songs have can take the emphasis on the direction of the songs, and cause things to fall into a looser chaos. The vocals are often repetitive. 

The first song that is straight-up punk is "Uncle Sam's Hate".  The production is very raw and lo-fi on this album, which goes with their demeanor. "Where's it Go" makes me think this is what happens to a punk band when they smoke too much pot. The vocals sound like a drunk homeless man just talking to himself. They come down a little to get more aggressive for "Dead Zone' which is the first song that sounds like it is tapping into anarcho-punk. It's my favorite so far since it's darker. "Wonder" is not far from this more deliberate punk. The guitar continues with a darker moodier sound. This allows the vocals to take more emotive form. 

"Plateau of Self" is pretty much straight-ahead old-school punk. It's hard to complain about this as it is so pure punk. 'Warmonger' doubles down on the Stooges influence, which is fine with me. The guitars go back to the more complex arrangements owing more to 70's prog which is an odd juxtaposition for a punk band to be in. I will give this album a 9, while I prefer their more post-punk sound, you can not fault them for growing.