Air Conditioning

Coming on strong with a full-throttle assault of guitar-blasting noise, Air Conditioning lay down sheets and walls of minimal synthetic squall that sounds as though the studio was burning to the ground beneath their amps. The first track, "Accusation, Denial, Denali,” is a one-minute explosion of intent, paving the way for the more exploratory but no less ferocious "Baby with a Graphite Soft Spot / Smooth Branches,” a 23-minute evolver that is definitely the high-point of the album. The 15-minute closer, "Welcome to Seaworld / Championship Rings,” is slightly sillier with its shrieking, nonsensical vocals and slicing guitar stabs, but still knows how to rip out your hair and pour bleach in your eyes. This trio is best when they’re dismantling their grooves into shreds, and there’s plenty of shredding to go around. Essentially, fans of Hair Police, Sightings and noise-rock in general will likely go ape-shit for this, but everyone else should stay very, very far away.