A Minor Forest - Inindependence

Classic and classy is how this early 90's San Francisco based math rock group could be described. Like their peers of the moment they subscribed to the darker end of the math rock color wheel. Rhythms are where the group stands out the most and drummer Andee Connors does a great job keeping everything reigned in. With only a few releases this three piece tends to get less praise than is deserved for sure. Can get a bit noisy in spots but alas twas a mark of the times and doesn't really hurt at all. In my opinion A Minor Forest bears a closer resemblance to our modern math rock than other groups of the Albini decade so if nothing else its worth a look.


Inindependence

37500 Yens - Astero (2007)

Bonjour! comment êtes-vous aujourd'hui spadassins? Er umm sorry cant help but slip into french when we have the excellent 37500 Yens from France gracing us with their brand of excellent math rock. Well I guess to be fair we have some other prevalent elements getting thrown in the lions den. You've got some clear love of hardcore as well as more low key ambient styles. The feeling is almost like an update to early 90's Louisville stalwarts when they are chilling out on a nice slow groove. Wordless and complex when they are in "hardcore" mode. You would think by the description that the guitar would be a titch forgettable but actually stays both rhythmic and melodically present throughout the duration of the album, a surprising achievement if you ask me. Unfortunately this is the extent of their releases a sad state of affairs. You need not be a francophone to dig into this dish.

Astero (2007)

Native - Wrestling Moves

A band that had the promise of dazzling the ball nut out of us with their 2009 release Wrestling Moves.  Well I guess this is how I felt at least based on the single "What Are You Dylan In My House?" from their first ep "We Delete, We Erase". That song had blistering guitar and drums that sounded like the train was about to come off rails before kick-ass station. Their sound is one that isn't really heavily saturated in the math rock "scene" if you even want to go that route. Its a post-punk/post-hardcore style of math rock with some shout style vocals. Sadly drums are not front and center because they are frequently inspired. It's a solid outing and these guys work well when the vocals are turned down and the guitars get some room to breath and play memorable licks. Maybe not something everyone will like but when the mood strikes it hits the spot.


We Delete, We Erase

Wrestling Moves (2009)