Labels: Exile On Mainstream
Review by: Joe Caithness
After staring at the artwork for about 20 minutes (it’s a barcode, and the band’s name is in negative form) and almost have a seizure I managed to work out what this band is called. And, you guessed it, they are German.
I guess this is what one would refer to as Math Rock, and the problem I have with said sub sub sub genre is that it generally means “Likes Shellac and counts HARD ROCK riffs in funny”, but to be fair to these guys, the ROCK in their music is actually very HARD. On top of this record sounds really good, snare that cracks in your face, insane twangy bass and layers of thick creamy guitars… yummy! For a style of music which has used up every awkward groove on earth, they still manage to make a groove worth getting stuck into. Ok, so there is a few slightly wacky chanting voices etc, but it doesn’t seemed forced and they keep it short enough to just about get away it, JUST about. There is a bird tweeting solo on one track though….
Also they have a vocoder one tune, and get away with it, that deserves a good review on it’s own!