Having begun as a side project of Godspeed! You Black Emperor’s Efrim Menuck, their sound has journeyed from early post-rock experiments into the hinterlands of drone. ‘Austerity Blues’ sounds like Fairport Convention’s hypnotic ‘A Sailor’s Life’ played in a wind tunnel, ‘Fuck Off Get Free’ has the kind of unsettling noise you expect from Godspeed, and the eerie violins on ‘Take Away These Early Grave Blues’ make it feel like a death march soundtrack. It’s a moving record. The only catch is, when they turn down the intensity on ‘What We Loved Was Not Enough’ they sound like Arcade Fire at their most mawkish.
Huw Nesbitt