#12
Battles
Mirrored
Call it math rock. Call it post rock. Call it indie-prog. But the one thing you can’t call Mirrored, the first full-fledged album from New York City quartet Battles, is expected.
The group effectively bolts together disparate influences, ranging from Steve Reich-ian electric minimalism to King Crimson-esque virtuosic guitar-and-drum riffing and tricky time signature shifts reminiscent of Gentle Giant to create a sonic world entirely its own. Their weapons of choice are equally diverse, including everything from the expected guitars and drums to electronically-altered vocals and various sonic warpage of indeterminate origin (though I’m guessing a laptop was somehow involved).
From the playful call-and-response tapestry of the intro track, “Race: In” to the relentless juggernaut-like chug of “Atlas,” the album’s single, and the off-kilter gallop of “Tonto,” Battles displays a refreshing alternative to—well—“alternative.” After all, how amazing is it that something sounding so many light-years removed from the whiny garage-band/post-punk aesthetic once synonymous with indie rock can still be categorized as such?
Chalk up Mirrored as a bellwether, then, of broadening definitions, more open minds and, most importantly, exciting, unconventional, highly enjoyable music.
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