BASIC

As BASIC, Forsyth/Millevoi/Avery tap the quicksilver repetition that threaded through their source of inspiration — Quine and Maher’s album of the same name. The trio jumps off from that unsung gem and dives through a hypnotic world of entwined guitars and lock-step percussion. Millevoi and Forsyth’s shared love of that long lost classic became a sketch for jam sessions, and eventually a blueprint that would envelop similar impulses from The Durutti Column and the more brittle edges of the ‘80s. When Avery offered to augment the lineup in lieu of an Alesis rhythm solution, he crafted his own pared-down percussion rig — a blend of the organic and electronic that serves as the band’s cyborg heart.

This Is BASIC may have started out as a straight homage, but over time it has evolved and mutated into its own beast. A record that revels in stark atmospheres, it feels at times as if the glass and aluminum riffs might draw blood. It’s the kind of record that keeps the listener looking around corners, waiting for what comes next. While it may not have been on their compass, the record also evokes the kind of homegrown fractured-future blues of some of John Carpenter’s composition work (particularly the atmospheres of They Live), feeling like it could easily soundtrack an ‘80s dystopia full of shadowed horrors and hard truths. The twin guitars glint off of the headlight glare, flashing strings and sinewed riffs like rows of teeth. There’s an uneasy sweat and a dub humidity that occasionally creeps in, reverberating off of their abandoned factory acoustics in waves. With This Is BASIC, the trio have successfully turned obsession into inspiration, crafting a record that has few peers in the running this year.

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