Here this Canadian duo unloads 11 short tracks of quirky instrumental math rock/metal that boasts loads of potential without quite hitting the mark for me. On the better half you've got tracks like the incredible "Long Far Walk" with its supremely twisted dissonant note choices and chord progressions or thick jazzy chords over relatively subdued percussion, or the winding arpeggios and pull-offs of "I Like Safety"; while on the other hand there are somewhat annoyingly disjointed noodle fests like "Admiring the Snacks" that center around sloppier riffing that doesn't really achieve the level of actual feeling that the stronger tracks possess. I can appreciate some of the frantic noisiness in some regards, most notably in that the drumming is generally tight as fuck and always tends to roam around and color things up incredibly well, but some of the more chaotic guitar work also makes sense - such as the quick shifts and roundabout riffing in "Only Death Stops the Ringing". "Panda Argument" slows down for a bit and starts to get a little weirder with some almost melodic sensibilities, and that's another angle I'd like to hear more of. The recording, handled by Prague's own drummer Craig Boychuk, is a little rawer than some of his work that I've encountered in the past, but still manages to achieve a well balanced sense of natural warmth for the drumming, while the roughness of the guitars is of little concern for me. I do find that the stripped down duo approach (which seems to remain free of overdubs) leaves things sounding a bit thin and plain, so adding in some layering or basslines could definitely prove a powerful addition for these two. The layout? Well, to be as painfully honest as possible, I kind of hate it. I think the black and white photos used are far more effective than the front or back covers, but the entire appearance is really inconsistent and unappealing to me as a whole, so I'm not really sure what else to delve into there. The big picture here is all about two guys with a heap of talent that either can't quite decide what to do with it, or simply haven't yet settled on how to best communicate it through their currently brief tunes. I think it could be cool were there longer songs in smaller numbers with more focus on structure and dynamics as opposed to a slew of quick experiments that kind of start and finish without that much of a flow. Some of the material that feels a little too typically math rock to me in terms of repetition and scale-like architecture would likely work out just fine with tighter guitar work and a heavier form of distortion, but... with the presence of awesome numbers like "Long Far Walk" it's hard to settle for anything less from these two! I'm overlooking the crappy layout and subsequent musical hitches because when they nail it they prove what damage they could be doing.
[self-released]
Running time - 19:52, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Sap, Long Far Walk, I Like Safety, Each Sip of Your Beauty]
Prague - http://www.praguelovesyou.com
