I have no idea if that’s the actual title of this record. My rules for internet research state that if I can’t confirm the info I want on a label’s home page or a band’s page, I no longer need to care if I’ve got it right or not. That said, Hefei, China’s Lava/Ox/Sea could well be described as twenty-first century prog punk, I guess. A description like that would make me think that Lava/Ox/Sea is somehow orbiting in the Devo solar system, but they’re not. This is a quiet record that seems kind of math-rockish, and it sounds more like the soundtrack to an avant garde film rather than a rock’n’roll record. This isn’t something that will find its way onto my regular playlists—I normally go for tunes with much more obvious bite and/or twang—but it will make for a magnificent musical change-up down the road.
–Eric Carlson (Tenzenmen)