Ed Schraders Music Beat

The new full-length from minimalist post-punk duo Ed Schrader's Music Beat possesses a heavy, sombre sound that pounds urgent bass and drum strokes into your brain one minute and then lulls you into a state of hypnosis with slow, drone-like beats the next. Jazz Mind draws its strength from taking a powerful sound and stripping it down to its bare minimum. Basic time signatures and minimal instrumentation (drum and bass) are pushed to their lowest frequencies. The duo create sonic juxtaposition, from frenzied to a quiet sullenness. Vocalist Ed Schrader follows the beat with yelping shrieks that can be compared to Skot Alexander (400 Blows), then suddenly switches to a low baritone that eerily mimics Ian Curtis (Joy Division). Although the switch in tempo and style from song to song is abrupt, there's consistency that follows the album through to the end. "When I'm in a Car" is the only track featuring guest guitar (Randy Randall of No Age); it holds the simple chord structure of early '70s punk and recalls its more modern take, previously done by such acts as Jay Reatard and Ice Age.