Tera Melos

Once in a rare while an album comes along that's so fresh and ingenious it redefines what's possible in a field of music. It's been some time since a trio armed with guitar, drums, bass and vocals have shattered the boundaries of convention and pushed the limits of their instruments and compositions like a graceful tsunami of invention. Patagonian Rats is Tera Melos's second full album, but first experimenting with vocal-based, pop song structures. Expanding upon their mathematical punk-jazz precision, which was a somewhat esoteric, mind-altering listening experience to begin with, the band find a window of accessibility without sacrificing creative density. Guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart has become a master song craftsman, with the support of a most prodigious rhythm section. Tera Melos bend the complexity and virtuosity of Hella and Battles to support the epic psychedelic pop energy of the Flaming Lips, fierce originality of Syd Barrett and dissonant grind of Polvo with a revolving mass of tastefully filtered influences from an astonishingly broad palate. With every note and beat a jaw-dropping highlight, Patagonian Rats impacts like a meteor promising extinction for the less evolved.