#open head

What is Success, the band’s sophomore effort, coalesces with a snarl. Synths lacerate the air over a cacophony of chittering insectoid cymbals and broken beats. This maelstrom eventually births opening song “Success,” on which Open Head angrily question the nature of the titular subject and why they should even care about it. A gruff, spectral vocal croak rises to a shout as chiming guitars permeate an angsty rhythm. The song devolves into a synth-guitar drone as it fades away. They’re setting up a pattern here, periodically deploying outré interstitial passages, dropping them in to linger briefly in chaos before launching the next song salvo. These noise and drone bursts create cohesion in the album, framing the songs within a sinister narrative. Beat by beat, Open Head reveal their story.

There are times when the band’s spastic lurch becomes a full-on zombie horde onslaught. “N.Y. FRILLS” churns with Sonic Youth guitar swirls and an insistent drum pummelling. Angularity dissolves into a stormy throb accompanied by a sinister, almost spoken word, vocal. “House” attempts to attain the same pulsating thrust but dissolves into a sweat-soaked David Yow-like abandon. Slashes of guitar punctuate the thrum of the bass while a vocal chant becomes a lacerating yowl. Both songs are simultaneously fascinating and frightening as Open Head demonstrate their ability to charge ahead unfettered.

It's the band’s combination of volatility and finesse that makes What is Success a complex and compelling listen. The frenetic and intricate drumming keeps the songs taut yet unpredictable, always thrusting but in multiple directions simultaneously. The guitars and synths seem about to explode like a chained dog ready to leap, and the growl-to-howl vocals chase the energy of the music like a disturbed swarm of bees. This battle between chaos and syntropy turns the second law of thermodynamics on its head. What is Success is a listenable manifestation of balance in the universe.