Onwards To The Wall

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With three years separating this EP from the group's previous album, <i>Exploding Head</i>, the NYC shoegazer band A Place to Bury Strangers shows modest growth and a complete conviction to its sound. The band specializes in a molten ambience, but it's pure, beautiful confusion that drives "So Far Away" (a track so densely layered that it's impossible to gather your bearings). The title track makes it seem like Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order has taken over bass duties (it's actually new bassist Dion Lunadon, formerly of The D4) before the vocals wash over in abstract harmony. The heavy reverb and deliberately murky mix make for powerful bedfellows, since all that truly matters is the gestalt. "I Lost You" moans in the moonlight while the band imitates a whirring blender. "It'll Be Alright" turns things a darker shade of rust; vocals emit from an anonymous vaporous void, and the band pummels feedback into a glorious noise. "Drill It Up" turns up the industrial sturm and clang.

via Apple Music