#comradely objects

Opener “Zero Degree Machine” lets the listener peek under the hood of this finely honed automaton. Drummer Sam Haberman locks down a watertight beat, accented with some sprightly percussion; guitarist Owen Gardner threads through some tropical-sounding guitar arpeggios in a different time signature; and Max Eilbacher pounds out a woolly, three-note bassline. Gardner shifts the timing of his guitar arpeggios until they become a dizzying blur, Eilbacher throws in some harmonics on the bass, the whole rhythm section shifts up a gear, then Andrew Bernstein enters on sax to lock into a euphoric sax-and-guitar theme that carries the song to its cantering climax. 

“Mess Mend” kicks off like a melted version of Madchester, its demented, off-key piano intro leading into some magnificently warped guitar lines, backed by cowbell and squelching electronics. Haberman and Eilbacher keep the song riding the rails right up until its final moments, when everything becomes glitched out and a delay pedal is cranked into screaming feedback. On “May Brigade,” guitar and sax are locked in a squawking fight for supremacy, leading to some of the most demented playing on the record. Side A is closed out by the 90-second “Solidarity Avenue,” which sounds like the theme tune to a detective show set in a dark, rain-slashed city. 

Horse Lords offer the listener some breathing space at the start of side B. The ten-minute “Law of Movement” is dominated by long stretches of held sax notes and shimmering, droning electronics. There are some gnarly intervals, but the rhythm section holds off for a couple of minutes, then comes hurtling in with renewed fervor, the drum figure and bass harmonics reprising those found on “Zero Degree Machine.” The interplay between the instruments here is especially hypnotic, striking a mesmerizing balance between stasis and movement. “Rundling” is another comparatively short piece, featuring a bright saxophone and marimba melody over a shuffling snare pattern. Comradely Objects stumbles and shudders to a close with “Plain Hunt on Four,” where the electric piano and saxophone parts sound like their gears need greasing, the rhythm players holding back tantalizingly, where elsewhere they raced forward with aplomb.