Why is it that New York sounds like that? It was about two thirds of the way through this album where I thought to myself, "these guys sound like they're from New York", and lo-and-behold, that's exactly where they're from. There's a brightness to the music that comes from that town, a saturation to the sound, and a sense of effortless cool.
Maybe it's just that I would place money on Penelec being big Sonic Youth fans, as understated vocals talk-sing "fuck the cops, erase the fuzz, fuck the bosses, fuck the judge" beneath a wall of distortion and feedback. That's from FREE SPIRIT, the closing track of THE PLASTIC FORMS OF SOME SOMETHING. There's distortion, feedback, and harmonics everywhere. This is a band that knows how to get the most out of their electric guitars without relying on heavy effects and processing. They shimmer and hum on CARRIER & CARRION, they chug and crunch on the surprisingly poppy COP IN A RUSE, and they scream like a chainsaw on the exactly-10-minute-long noise epic, RETURN OF THE BASKET CASE WARDS.
It's a really cool album, and very coherent, too. On the handful of songs with vocals, the performance is great, in that kind of Gen X slacker way. Lyrically there's a constant theme of anti-authoritarianism, disdain for big business, and day-to-day mundanity. It's great stuff, and so far up my alley that it almost could find its way out the other end. It's one that I can see myself coming back to time and time again.