Black Dice | Repo

Paw Tracks (2009)

By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | April 6, 2009

2.5 Stars

Spearheaded by Brooklyn trio Black Dice and their peers, American noise rock is less like the pure noise of Merzbow and more like a renewal of dark, grinding industrial rhythms. Indeed, much of Black Dice's fifth album smacks of SPK or Cabaret Voltaire, and when they follow those influences, their work is often compelling.

"Lazy TV" and "La Cucaracha" are surprising and spontaneous, even as their pulsing, mechanistic beats sound like the dying groans of decaying machinery. When the group try to get less synthetic and give their compositions shape and danceability, however, their efforts are weak and half-hearted. "Earnings Plus Interest" could belong to a compilation of breakbeats intended for sampling, the band lazily drooping digital squiggles on the drum loop. "Vegetable" makes use of a loosely tuned acoustic guitar that flanges tediously back and forth for a brief two minutes; it sounds like an Animal Collective cast-off.

And for an experimental album, Repo does little to elaborate on the formula Black Dice plotted on Creature Comforts and Load Blown. Fans will welcome the grotesquely titled "Ultra Vomit Craze" and "Gag Shack," reveling in subtle mood shifts found amid the ferocious racket. Skeptics and nay-sayers will remain unconvinced of the genre's ability to move beyond bratty outbursts.

Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Electronic Music, More

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ARTICLES BY MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY

THE FALL | YOUR FUTURE OUR CLUTTER | April 27, 2010
If you didn’t know any better, you might think that Your Future Our Clutter is a recording of a raving old lunatic heckling a very solid instrumental band.

SAM AMIDON | I SEE THE SIGN | April 15, 2010
Sam Amidon is fascinated with the songbook of old Americana, and his radical yet tasteful reimaginings of traditional folk ballads and hymns breathe new life into a form often seen as quaint and old-fashioned.

RED SPAROWES | THE FEAR IS EXCRUCIATING, BUT THEREIN LIES THE ANSWER | March 30, 2010
Post-rock bands are like silent-film actors — bereft of words, they tend to use broad gestures to ensure that you get the point.

THESE NEW PURITANS | HIDDEN | March 09, 2010
Hidden is a real UK horror show, mixing grim, industrial beats with mannered, regal horns and a persistent aura of foggy uneasiness. These New Puritans reveal a penchant for æsthetic violence and revolutionary action that, though rarely convincing, matches the uncompromising intensity and martial tenor of the music.