Battles' long awaited
second album "Gloss drop". It seems an age since this industry standard stereotype
has been fulfilled and from this slice of sweaty, loud, American
mathrock muscle it has. Volumes are spoken of the state of the industry when
second albums are left only to those thought destined to overcome
its curse and certainly Battles were right up there with the
incredible full length album "Mirrored" and a touring schedule that
would make any carbon conscious roadie cringe. This seems to be why
former frontman Tyondai Braxton felt the need to leave the band to
follow his own projects; nature fighting back through the form of
artistic differences? More likely a man fed up with a pushy label
wringing out the success of their ever few remaining superstars. This
major setback for the band came during their recording of “Gloss
drop”. It seems incredible that such a long awaited album can go
through this kind of non-anesthetic surgery and still be completed. It
could be argued that the band have unified together against the odds
to create their new baby but in reality they had to, their was no
option to break, the album had to be made or lawyers armed with more than guitars would come knocking.
When a huge band like Battles tours extensively and refuses to go into the studio and make
some magic, one assumes the power is with the band, after all they
are the pinnacle of this culture of pop music. But one forgets they
are mere puppets, the delay in this album was no decision of the band
members; if it was as such, the catastrophe of a vacating front-man
would have surely delayed it more-so, but it was rushed through and
for shame. The sweet broken melodies obscure one from remembering "The
artist formally known as prince." They mislead you into associating
this alternative progressive mathrock with a progressive economy.
“Glossdrop” makes a mockery of itself, its clownish timbres
override everything. The question I ask is why.
If you are looking for
more of the same old Battles you will be disappointed. This offering
is more math-jelly than math-rock. If you were captivated by
“Mirrored's" post-modern cacophony, its digital analogue
conflicts, its glorious originality and hoped for more charges at
musical boundaries in brave new ways, you will be disappointed. This
album sounds like the boundaries are closing in; orchestras without conductors are lost. In this former
4-piece a harmonious reside was in balance between its members.
Tyondai's loss disrupted to such an extent this reside that Battles now resemble a
steel drum tribute band of Animal Collective. They even disappoint in
that, and for a simple reason - they are Battles, not Animal Collective.
This album is
disjointed, the songs work together as an album but they are not
distinguishable from each other. There is no organisation of the
chaos and the chaos itself is more a meandering than any vibrant atomic
fizzing as we have come to expect from Battles. "Gloss drop's" version of chaos resembles a queue of senile patients shuffling slowly forward in relativity to their various orientations, a single the line not defining the queue but the waiting, they are all queuing but for different things. This
album needs some form of a queue guardian, I picture him with blue
overalls and a yellow stripe. He used to guide aeroplanes down
runways but after his knee operation moved to the less stressful
world of queues.
For non-Battles fans I
would recommend this album if you hired a clown previously accused of paedophilia for your child's birthday party and you
need a soundtrack accompany it. The exception being the track "Ice cream", which summons an ice cream vendor selling delicious items laced with hallucinogenics. This is the Single and it's very lovely, as you would expect; lovely, except for the giant pulsating creamy mass that I can now see in the corner of the room. I better stick on some marching band music.
