Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

Courtesy of Cuneiform

After interviewing Tortoise and seeing them live in Tokyo last month, I’m still not convinced that they’re a “rock” band. But no matter: they were powerful, and as this new offering from fellow Chicagoans Algernon demonstrates, the Windy City post-rock scene continues to shudder with life. Guitarist, “tack piano” and “photo theremin” playing bandleader Dave Miller points his band in noisier, more free jazz directions than John McEntire’s collective. In “Honey Trap,” crazy, buzzing synth melodies act as the yin to the protean jazz drummer’s yang, while the sextet breaks out into Zappa-esque flights of fancy on “Operative vs. Opposition.” Technophiles will dig the get-your-freak-on electro passages of “Intelligence Meltdown” and the chilled-out ambient spaces of “The L Pill.” And if nothing else, you’ve got to like their song titles.