Battles - Gloss Drop Reviewed

For many an unwitting music fan Battles' 2007 performance of ‘Atlas’ on Later With Jools Holland will have provided a memorable first experience of the murky, multi-time-signatured world of Math Rock. No doubt, the sight of three bony New Yorkers playing a guitar with one hand and a keyboard with another was  spectacle enough, but then there was the music itself: off- kilter, tribal drumbeats accompanied by sparring guitar riffs, keyboard work and synthesised drones. This was MATHROCK: A musical scene characterised by weird time signatures, bizarre instrumentation and the ever-looming potential of artistic over-indulgence. But then why was this band so damn entertaining?

Why did the mad-eyed man, with his gravity defying curls, sound like he had been sucking on a helium balloon, and, most importantly, why was the drummer's symbol two metres above his kit? The answer, of course, is that Battle's were having fun. This ability to have fun (albeit on their own, skillful and inventive terms) is what has set Battles apart from their ‘Math Rocking’ peers, and allowed them to wrestle a notoriously inaccessible genre onto the fringes of the mainstream.

With their second album, Gloss Drop, Battles have inched yet further into the realms of accessibility and produced an album that is, in parts, more accomplished than their debut. The first notable departure from 2007's Mirrored, is the bands use of guest vocalists. Following the departure of the aforementioned, Tyondai Braxton, Battles have abandoned all octave hopping manipulation of their own voice-boxes and handed vocal duties over to a plethora of diverse musicians; this new  approach yields some of the most exciting moments of the album. For example, debut single, Ice Cream, is propelled along by the scattershot vocals of Chilean techno guru Matias Aguayo, whilst Battles back their chosen singer with suggestive grunting and a honkey-tonk piano. The Four Tet remix of ‘Tonto’ in 2007 hinted at the dance floor potential of Battles music, and with Ice Cream, they have managed to create a tune that is almost club-footed, without sacrificing any of their originality.

However, in its danceability, Ice Cream proves something of an anomaly. On the whole, Battles still appear to be more comfortable producing mid-length, instrumental tracks. Not that this is altogether a bad thing. On Mirrored, the likes of Tonto, Race In and Race Out, proved emotionally diverse and musically surprising. On Gloss Drop, opening track Africastle firmly follows this trend, with the destruction of an initially atmospheric guitar build-up at the hands of John Stanier's frantic, cascading drums. Similarly, Futura, whilst slightly longer than Africastle, constitutes a no less entertaining and tautly constructed whole. At their best then, the instrumental sections of Gloss Drop build on the strengths of Battles' previous work and allow for fevered appreciation of the band's craft. Other instrumental ventures however, do not produce such impressive results. On Inch Worm, White Electric and the appositely titled mayhem of Wall Street, Battles' tendency to throw whatever they can think of at their musical canvass results in songs so littered with ideas that they become chaotically unpalatable.

A similar lack of discipline undermines the otherwise effortless cool of Kazu Makino's vocals on Sweetie and Shag, as a cluttered and distracting musical platform detracts from the Blonde Redhead singer's performance.

More successful, is the appearance of punk legend Gary Numan on My Machines. Numan's high end vocals and the accompanying industrial guitar work and thunderclap drumming, find Battles morphing into a more aggressive incarnation of Tv on The Radio. Unfortunately though, even here, the band's love of high-pitched, keyboard noodling lends an otherwise immediate and exhilarating track an unnecessarily cartoonish feel.

All minor complaints though, must fade into insignificance in light of Gloss Drop's stand-out, closing track, Sundome.  In fitting with their international approach, Battles employ the vocal services of noise-rock veteran, Yamantaka Eye, whose echo-laden ravings resemble a Japanese take Jamaican dance-hall. By way of accompaniment, on Sundome, Battles opt for an uncharacteristically sparse, but typically inventive approach: fusing reggae tinged chord work with East-Asian scales and straightforward, yet satisfying, drumming. However, no carefully selected words can even approach the boldness, originality and playfulness of this closing track. With Sundome, Battles end their second album on seven minute, fourty-seven second high, that perfectly illustrates their talents as a group and sees them careering into exciting and un-mined musical territory.

As whole, Gloss Drop may not be a perfect album and Battles' persistent experimentation may not always produce enjoyable results, but it is that same artistic boldness which lends their sophmore effort its finest moments. When Battles succeed, we are granted something truly exhilarating: the sound of a band having fun entirely on their own terms.

Paul Burch