Battles
On their first bona-fide LP, "Mirrored," the math-rock supergroup Battles moves past the glitchy textures that dominate their EPs.
If at times the band seems overly fond of unconventional time signatures, they now at least have a conventionally firm command of song structure. The pick-to-click, "Atlas," is rousing and anthemic, while the vocal-manipulated samples on "Leyendecker" provide the kind of melodic hook that voices usually provide in pop songs, though the effect is more like someone singing in a David Lynch nightmare scene. And with more structure comes clearer intentions: a lot of the stuff here is hilarious, like the Nashville-versus-Hamburg food fight, "Rainbow." The Japan version also contains a bonus track, "Katoman," dedicated to our favorite local Amerindie promoter. Basically two minutes of sludgy effects, it doesn't add much to the record, but in context it's far more relevant that 99% of Japan bonus tracks.
WHITE STAGE, 7/29, 6:50 pm
