Supergroups are a tricky prospect. On the one hand, it’s often a great idea to combine the best parts of various bands to create one excellent monster. On the other, sometimes the formula doesn’t work out quite the way you want it to. The catalyst might come out too obvious to be interesting, or the band could try too hard to be surprising and avoid all of the elements fans wanted from a collaboration in the first place.
But when the alchemy works, the result is pure magic. PLOSIVS is the strongest bit of magic I’ve heard in a while.
The resumés at play here are enough to get the hype machine rolling at full steam: Rob Crow from Pinback, Atom Willard from Against Me! and Rocket From the Crypt, and the legendary guitarist John Reis from Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and Rocket From the Crypt (Sorry, Jordan Clark, Hot Like (A) Robot isn’t quite at the same level). The idea of Rob Crow’s hook-laden melodies with John Reis’ angular and noisy riffs might as well have been born in a conversation between my emo and punk friends in the early 2000s flipping through our CD binders.
To say it lives up to the promise is an understatement. This is exactly what you’d hope for from such a collaboration, then cranked all the way up. In simplest terms, it rips. Every song is a cavalcade of masterful vocal lines, delicious riffs, and acrobatic section changes. Guitars shift from dissonant to anthemic at a moment’s notice without ever feeling abrupt. Willard and Reis play in lock step, retaining every bit of their chemistry as former bandmates. Drummer Jordan Clark might not have the pedigree of his colleagues, but he knows exactly who he’s in there with, and he plays like it. There are very few moments of reprieve, but even the less energetic songs (like the synth-aided “Pray For Summer”) still pack a punch. And with tracks like “Never Likely,” “Pines,” and “Bright,” raining down blows on the listener, the slower tracks aren’t enough to give a proper breather.
At just thirty-three minutes, this debut is practically a Blitzkrieg, leaving shelled ruins in their wake. It’s an exhilarating and bewildering listen, and an impressive addition to the group’s already impressive resumés.
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