Yes. Thank you Bear Claw. Fucking kick ass. Two basses and a drummer, who, by the way, does the singing. It’s no godsheadsilo but is instead its own unique beast. Partially Chicago influenced (Shellac, U.S. Maple) and also with a good dose of Unwound, except it is made up of two basses, one of which is tuned enough to sound to these ears like a guitar. Recorded by Steve Albini and mastered by Bob Weston, this is some powerful shit. It’s got a well-performed, dark, indie sound but with a healthy foundation of rock. The vocals don’t always seem to accommodate the music quite as well as a clearer, cleaner-sounding singer might have. However, none of the songs slip too much, i.e. there’s no “slow song,” and the album is capped by the fucking amazing “Rudimentary Understanding,” where singer Scott Picco exclaims through gloomy low end and pop-pop-pop drumming “You’re a liar! A fucking liar! We’re all liars!” and you can just hear the explosion coming out and being echoed by the music. Make every song like this one and you would’ve produced one of the best albums of the year. As it is, I really enjoyed it.
–kurt (Sickroom)