If 2007’s Mapmaker was created a palpable buzz for Parts & Labor, Receivers should raise the noise to a distorted howl. The Brooklyn band’s sound has been deftly evolving with each release, with Mapmaker its first to directly embrace its current predilection for bombastic anthems buried beneath the rubble of screeching synthesizer. Receivers has the same sonic hallmarks: twitchy, knob-turning electronics amid lumbering distortion and lyrics foretelling vague apocalyptic threats. The difference here can be found in the sequencing, which at only eight tracks makes the songs feel more fluid and less cumbersome than its predecessor, whose full-steam approach petered out toward its end. The band allows most songs to careen past five minutes, often times longer, indulging every swelling melody in the process. The album’s title nods to Parts & Labor’s semi-novel approach of conducting an open call for audio samples and field recordings, all of which are said to be found somewhere within Receivers. While Parts & Labor’s grinding wall of noise seems to invite this kind of egalitarianism, the experiment never seems gimmicky or extraneous. Instead, it becomes virtually impossible to distinguish what sounds do or do not belong. It all comes together in one glorious racket. [www.jagjaguwar.com]
—Matt Siblo
