There was a band I was introduced to back in 2003 out of Chicago here, Oucho Sparks, that had recorded a live album in a café just down the block from where I lived.  This album sounded amazing and it was the reason that I decided to take my audio career into the realm of live recording.  If a local band could make an album in a random venue and actually make it sound really good, I could too.

But what kept that album in my CD changer for so very long was that the music was amazing.  Their willingness to experiment with composition and arrangement to build interesting tracks kept the music fresh and listenable after many spins. While this review isn’t about that band, I highly suggest checking them out. But there’s a certain sound that Oucho Sparks had that ties directly to what Black Country, New Road are doing some 20 years later, and I’m freakin’ loving it.

It also reminds me a bit of the MC 900ft Jesus’ 1994 album One Step Ahead of The Spider. There’s a certain sing-songiness to the spoken-word vocals over an experimental backing track.  That and a jazzy-ness that rings true to both of these albums as well. While One Step Ahead of The Spider was very much centered in the hip-hop realm, this tracks deeper into rock territory, but the similarities are most certainly there.

It’s experimental and post-rock and Slint with klezmer and pushes back at the rock-band format.  The band gained notoriety from their first two singles, “Athens, France” and “Sunglasses.”  For their first full-length release here, they’ve been rerecorded to reflect the sound they’ve developed since.  There’s post-punk groove and atmospheric sounds.  Violin and saxophone play alongside distorted guitar, keyboard, and bass at certain points.  All interplayed with the spoken-word salad of their vocalist.

You can certainly hear influences of bands like Slint or black midi. I’d argue that there’s a whole scene of music that’s heading in a similar direction.  Take a listen to some of the latest releases from bands like black midi, Squid, or The Comet Is Coming and you’ll hear where this is coming from.  Intelligently written music with interesting arrangements?  Yes, please.