Phlodd
10GeV, 2022
9/10
The San Francisco art-rockers Vertacyn Arc Materializer return with their 3rd album, and it’s as iconoclastic as anything they’ve done and resides somewhere between noise, psychedelia and experimental territory.
“Thank You Florida” starts the listen with an off kilter jangle that showcases lazy vocals and random noises into the harmonic sci-fi formula, and “Ikea Stock Split” follows with a bizarre version of soulful rock that buzzes lightly amid warm guitar bouts and bright brass, too.
Further on, the chunky bass of “Weight Loss 101” segues into calm areas of intimate exploration that builds into a thicker rock template, while “Nicotine Chewing Gum” plows into some sort of post-punk with its hypnotic texturing, driving rhythm section and electronic manipulation.
Near to the end, “Enough On Hand To Forget” drones in a very peculiar way that’s a bit ominous, and “The Slip, Slip, Slip” exits with cozy acoustic guitar and poetic singing that resembles early Radiohead in another dimension.
A record that’s entirely unpredictable, all over the map sonically, and even comes with a padlock to provide the owner of the disc with a Digital Rights Management system (I’m not kidding), you’ve never head anything like this and that’s a big part of Vertacyn Arc Materializer’s charm.
Travels well with: Deru- We Will Live On; Bottler- Journey Work