I don’t think their sound appears to have anything to do with prog at first glance. They seem to be crazy, all over the place, the two guitars and drums flopping all over the place in a non-committal way. Guitar melodies bleed over the beat into the next measure, seeming not to line up with the rhythm. I always thought they sounded like classic rock ‘n roll put into the microwave for 30 secs so it starts to melt.

Take a second look — perhaps pick one of their songs, listen to the studio version, and then listen to the live version. You will notice that every little tic is played the same way live. If you ask me, they’ve figured out how to do something very interesting indeed. They take the prog rock thing of playing incredibly precisely, but they do it with an entirely different attitude, different set of sounds. To me it sounds very fresh.

From this brief first impression, they come across as a rather unique fusion of two quite disparate genres. They take the tropes of math rock and noise rock and combine them in an unlikely and unexpected manner, which is initially quite difficult on the ear. I love a lot of math rock, and I love a lot of noise rock, but I’ve never heard them brought together in this way before. I’m not convinced it works for me - but, as aforementioned, I didn’t choose the best time and space to give them a fair listen. I will definitely come back to this band, and give them another go.

I think what it comes down to here is whether or not you conceive of prog as a genre, or as an attitude. I suspect this band would not find a place easily in PA, because of the way this site chooses to define prog - but the band seems to me to be definitely progressive in their approach.

Thanks for sharing! 👍🏻

I wasn’t lumping them into anything. And to be fair, given the choice, I’d definitely prefer to lump them into math and noise than classic rock, if we’re thinking AC/DC. I don’t mind a lot of classic rock, but AC/DC is not a band that I’ve ever really liked. The odd song or two is catchy and enjoyable in isolation, but I can’t handle hearing too much in one go. My brother had a lot of their albums, and I couldn’t stay in the same room if they were playing. (But I’m have no problem if a song came up on the radio.)

Good stuff!! A bit like Slint if they were very drunk. 

BTW...Mr Rittman plays 'mellotron' on Life Rings Hollow on Chicago XX by Cheer Accident...and one of my best friends Greg sings the lead on that track. 

Kudos for making the point of their compositional intentions. These guys weren't just flailing around making it up as they went. They crafted songs. Strangely broken songs, but songs.