Career 2025
Leftfield psychedelia from American trio who finally find themselves on solid ground and are intent on covering as much of this ground as possible.
Insect Accessories
A double album is always both an ambitious and dangerous undertaking, as there are too few studio records of such scope that have stood the test of time, yet artists still try to justify putting out everything they came up within a certain period of time by applying a loose concept to it all. The listener can understand the excitement of this Montana ensemble, though, because on “Insect Accessories” they turn into a self-contained collective after a bout of uncertainty which saw the band lose two of their brethren and recuperate on "Fire Printing" with a little help from their friends. Now, however, the group’s current core – Ron Sanchez, Joe Adragna and Scott Sutherland – acknowledged their talents as songwriters and multi-instrumentalists and realized the redundance of any external input. But whether any of the material offered here will be perceived as redundant depends on the audience’s readiness to experience a slight mindwarp.
The whopping twenty-five pieces forming four chapters feel rather overwhelming, especially in the light of these two discs exposing a similar sonic palette across the board, yet if culling out tracks should seem harsh, cutting out some of their parts might give them a more powerful punch. So while the upbeat “And Now I’m Looking” and other “Asides” numbers unfold an impressive space-rock tapestry, with fluid guitars floating amidst Mellotron clouds, the shifts between the folk-informed “Run From Me” and retrofuturistic “Your Philosophy” are impeded by the insignificant inner development within single melodies. That’s why the artsy mini-epic “Alien Infusion” – where the trio’s interplay is at its most fantastic – and pop-savvy “Marooned” are possessed with stronger pull and provide a nice contrast to the acoustically driven “No One Listens Anymore” and electrically charged “No One’s Answering” which open the “Besides” segment with a thematic link before “Clouded Memory” redirects the album back to cosmic fields.
Once there, the meditative “Layered Sky” wraps interstellar vibe in harmonic wonders, and the blissed-out “Sea Legs” hits the spectral dancefloor, yet, logically, the tunes of “Seasides” resonate on a deeper dynamic level. The sorrowful “Maybe They Couldn’t Fly” sets the scene for “Never Arriving” which is throbbing in a gloomy way until various ivories take it beyond the pale only to see “Useless Things” drain the drift of the color but add an arresting stereo panorama to this bleak landscape. Still, “Burrowing” aim for nebulae again, and “Promise Unknown” goes for a mantric crawl, whereas “Matter Of Fact” launches the “Decides” section with a catchy chorus and six-string crunch, and the otherwise plaintive “I Never Lied” proves to be otherworldly magnetic. As “Not A Home” rides a church organ to utter solemnity, “Other Vancouver” defies expectations by baring a rough edge, and the repetitive “When You Try” eventually reminds everybody that the Bozeman ensemble used to wield punk sensibilities on their sleeves.
Digging “Insect Accessories” requires stamina, then, but it’s worth persevering: the fruits of this trip are rewarding.
***2/3
