Tag Archives: experimental math rock

EXCLUSIVE TRACK PREMIERE:
Doom Shrugs – “A Five-Letter Word for Happiness”

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Neo-Zealander experimental math rock project Doom Shrugs assaults us with their first song, “A Five-Letter Word for Happiness”, off of their upcoming album The Clairolfactant and the Flatulent Ghost.

The opening track of the album exemplifies rather perfectly what the project is about. With its dissonances, rhythmic caprices, and overall eccentric character you can already appreciate the unique fragrance of the group. One of the most striking features of this song might be its near constant chord staccato, which is so prevalent it’s almost uncomfortable—in the … Read more

Le Baron de Vincèse – Pectine & Grotonus

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

I’ve been attracted towards Le Baron de Vincèse‘s newest release, Pectine & Grotonus, because of the “math rock” tag that was attached to it. However, what I found is something much deeper and more complex than a single brief descriptor could convey. Innocently enough, I listened to the first minute or so of a song and thought to myself: “Yeah, that is some pretty good math rock alright!” However, things changed (for the better) soon after.

A more accurate, but less concise way of referring to their style of music would definitely include the … Read more

Piniol – Bran coucou

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Rarely have I been so eager to listen to a new album as this. That’s hardly surprising, however, as Piniol is the heavenly merger of French avant-prog bands Ni and Poil, both of which I’ve been very fond of for years! How this symbiosis came to be is unknown to me, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the result of this otherworldly union.

Bran coucou is the full-length endeavour made by this trio-plus-quartet, and it slaps like nothing else. As it is basically a double band playing as one, a sort of musical conjoined … Read more

Uglyglow – Sad People Happy Fiestas

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Uglyglow is a beautifully strange amalgamation of math rock and electronic music. Their former penchant is closer to experimental math rock, such as Yowie and Doom Salad, for example, while their latter derives more from noise than dance music. What seems to be the work of one person alone is quite impressive! As you can hear in “All the Numbers between 0 and -1”, all the parts have their place and are executed with great dexterity. From the drums, which often drives the songs forward, to the manic guitars and the lively and varied electronics support, … Read more

Crno dete – Neponovljivo

by Dæv Tremblay

The experimental surf rock duo Crno dete, from Serbia, just released their latest opus: the massive Neponovljivo album. This set is an improvised performance that goes on for about forty minutes; uncut, unedited, and unrepeatable. It has been divided into eight tracks, but the truly uncut version is available as a forty-three-minute single track. The music resembles experimental math rock and post-rock, but the utter flood of reverb on the guitars make me think of surf rock more than anything else, really. From the moment you press play, the guitars and the drums catawompously barge in and don’t stop … Read more