The album cover, a dizzying spirograph, is indicative (and perhaps maybe self-parody) that past write-ups of this noise-rock NC-based quartet repeatedly supply suggestive descriptors like: tangled, knotty, topsy-turvy and bent-up. Their signature sound, the way they snaked their wavy melodies along erratic rhythms was as beautifully bewildering, as perfectly inconceivable as a geometric sequence. The math is simple: this is a rock record; just factor in some distortion, agitated drums big enough to bang out arenas and add in proclivities towards droning minor key guitars layering the vocals like splintering latticework. Check your work: it’s a guitar-heavy rock record.
In Prism (2009) was their first record back from a 12-year hiatus; an intensely intricate storm that re-stretched and pulled their old muscles, blowing off a decade’s worth of steam. “Light, Raking” sounds altogether triumphant and nonchalant; a band that’s regained its footing, confidence and comfort restored, ready to rock again
