Though
Black Dice
have taken on numerous divergent forms since they started as a feral hardcore band in 1997, patterns have emerged that link each of their vastly different eras. As the group moved deeper into an electronic style, the ugly gurgles and disorienting blasts of abrasion continued the expressions of abandon, intensity, and embrace of confusion that had been at the core of each of their earlier manifestations.
Mod Prog Sic
is
's first studio album since 2012's
Mr. Impossible
, and while it follows the abstract programming direction that they began exploring as early as the mid-2000s, the set achieves new levels of weirdness while further solidifying signature elements that only
seem capable of. "Tuned Out" builds off a rhythm that seems semi-recognizable as a straightforward drum pattern, but quickly gets ornamented with fuzzy riffs, desecrated samples, and vocals processed into oblivion. It can read as total chaos if you aren't paying attention, but when you tune into all the alien sounds in the same way you would conventional instruments, the song's composition reveals itself as both intricate and controlled. "White Sugar" stands out in a similar way, with choppy vocals changing pitch over a beat that inverts old-school hip-hop drum sounds. It's dynamic and layered, with guitar leads coming in near the end that make the song feel almost like a wildly deranged attempt at radio pop. Throughout
,
invert techno beats, stretch samples into granular pieces, and toy with elements of classic rock until they're completely unrecognizable. The would-be groove of "Big Chip" is almost funky, but it quickly loses any semblance of normalcy as garbled vocals and various squelches take over. This kind of fried experimentalism is second nature to
by now, and the fine-tuned blurts of rhythmic noise that congeal on tracks like "All the Way" don't sound terribly removed from sounds they began developing as early as the 2004 album
Creature Comforts
.
finds
pushing themselves even further into a place of singularity, making music that's gross, funny, captivating, scary, and beguiling at once, and finding new details in the extremes they've been exploring for decades. ~ Fred Thomas