Genre: rawk, guitar pedals, sermons of the revolution

Georgia based band made up of members from Lotus Plaza and the absolutely incredible Algiers. I was turned onto these guys a few years ago by the much-loved DJ Away with the track “Dusted at Mount Sinai” (just a colossal, colossal song). Really fluid, artistic mix of post-punk, krautrock, and more. Second half of the album is strongest in my opinion. One of my favorites from 2016.

Others: Algiers, Suicide, New War, Dirty Beaches, Women, the Herms, Viet Cong

Favorites: 7+8, 6, 2, 1, 4. No discernible FCCs.

1. (5:31) * Pavilionism - Dusty, windswept guitar drone. Epic feel.
2. (7:41) * Viena Circles - Slightly uneasy bass guitar. Solid thumping drum beat enters and spacey synthesizer. Lo-fi speak-sung preacher style vocals. Cool stereo guitar interplay. Even some buried saxophone toward the second half.
3. (3:42) Labor - Synth bass groove. Cool studio effects and claps. Unintelligible vocals tumble in. Discordant and offbeat. A door to a weird alternate universe.
4. (7:41) * Friendly Fires - Stark motorik drum groove. Immersive hissing guitar fuzz. Hazy male vox. The repetition works you into a trance
5. (1:01) Muscle - Synth motif returns from track 3. More screechy and bizarre stuff. Cool potential lead in to next track.
6. (3:13) **** Pan Am Sun Isles - MMMMMM wacky garage stomper à la Herms or Thee Oh Sees. Think “Monster Mash” but in the world of Repo Man.
7. (6:04) **** Hyperblues - Widescreen, washed out. Sweet driving bass line. My favorite vocal performance on the album. Continues into final track.
8. (6:51) *** Or, The Anatomy of the Image - Play with previous! (or on its own) Psychedelic addendum to Hyperblues. Creative guitar experiments. Dark, strung-out vocals. Noisy finale. Cuts off out of nowhere and then a voice quickly says the track title. Perfect for Friday the 13th <3