I love math rock so I was already excited!

Truly a joy to listen to. The entire 40:39 had passed, and I just allowed the album to loop to the first track again. Pulled in by “Ambulance”‘s glittery and lullaby-like synthwaves, the bass quickly begins and so does the adventure. A maze of sounds is created with pretty guitar and synth loops in a multitude of tones and keys, along with distinctive percussion. The synths act as their own parallel percussion; some of them punctuating the drum’s downbeats, then serving as a melodic or harmonic addition. The purpose of each instrument changes depending on the track. I loved to discover the occasional grand piano or classical sound, feeling plush and full in contrast to the sterile-clean synth waves. Vocals provided by Xenia Rubinos, chords and riffs from Jon Anderson, and rhymes from Shabazz Palaces all find themselves as fleshed-out highlight points as this album progresses. tUnE yArDs also makes an appearance on the last two tracks, an excellent collaboration with their and Battles’ manipulative electronic styles melding to create the thought-provoking “Last Supper on Shasta”. 

The ever-changing sound moves along closely with the mind, with consistent patterns but distinctive anomalies that draw attention to them (a pop of a digital sound, a layered harmony). The next measure is ambiguous, even the next note is. Because of this, Juice B Crypt’s composition contains sounds of wonder and curiosity wrought out of its ever-changing bass line beat. More listens are needed to know all of the details. Despite its zealous complexity, it is an easy listen. Adhesive to the thoughts like a puzzle, but calming as we find the patterns: there are clear connections amongst the chaos. 

-Sarah Donehoo