This is all dirty gritty electric piano*, dissonant violin, and faux(?)-self-serious whiny (mostly low in the mix) singing. I’m pretty sure it’s a bit of a jab at overly-serious experimental music (check out the one-sheet), but it also totally works as a piece of music (assuming you like weird textures and depressive but likely jokey non-sensical stream of consciousness lyrics). And yeah, the lyrics are bizarre, but they seem willfully over the top and give me a laugh. And the textures are all pleasantly grating, if that makes sense.

*I’d have guessed Rhodes, but the one-sheet says it’s actually a Wurlitzer

RIYL: that description above… and maybe “Metal Box” PiL or Pere Ubu? definitely not in the same class as those two, but i think same spirit, at times.

1. slow, all elements build slightly but steadily in intensity over the course of the song. violin starts rapid/nervous but quickly goes slow/forlorn/angry. up and down keyboard run at end. 3:13 strawberry boonsefarm
2. even slower, flows pretty naturally from prior track. somewhat cleaner and more discrete/truncated notes from the keys interspersed with the dirtier and more flowing keys that make up the bulk of the album. violin doesn’t come in till after 0:20, gets a little fluttery in spots, and is plucked lightly for a while starting in the middle, but goes back to slowly bowed later. 3:57 pheromones
3. low static hum in background, keys have a bit more shimmer and are a bit more halting. violin starts lightly plucked then goes slowly bowed, then not so slowly later. more of the lyrics are intelligible but they’re non-sensical and you’ll forget them quickly. overall a bit more discombobulated. EP’s title appears in the lyrics. 4:26 vortex
4. keys are a bit gauzier and more lush. violin starts slow, gets more frantic at the end. contains what might be the only intelligible FCC (“like a poptart queef”), though i’m not sure whether that’s an FCC or whether that’s actually what’s said. 2:55 oral fixation

recommended: 3, 2, any