When Toronto post-punk trio Several Futures dropped their Narrative Collapse EP in 2014, it introduced a vicious group brimming with big ideas. Before You Forget, their debut full-length, makes good on that promise, packing an hour's worth of winding post-punk and bursts of noise into a Cloud Atlas-inspired chiastic structure. Though this complicated conceit doesn't fully come across, it shouldn't detract from what Before You Forget actually is: a visceral rock record packed to the brim with anxious punk energy that recalls Sonic Youth, or a more venomous Joy Division.
Narrative Collapse's crown jewel was the six-minute "Heroic Phase," lengthy in comparison to the other tracks. Here, the inverse is true; with many songs breaching the six-minute mark (and an 11-minute closer), the lean, poppy "Deep Connection" stands out, proving that Several Futures are best when switching up their game. They never stay in a groove too long, but it fits with their jittery, existentialist ethos.
(Forking Paths)Narrative Collapse's crown jewel was the six-minute "Heroic Phase," lengthy in comparison to the other tracks. Here, the inverse is true; with many songs breaching the six-minute mark (and an 11-minute closer), the lean, poppy "Deep Connection" stands out, proving that Several Futures are best when switching up their game. They never stay in a groove too long, but it fits with their jittery, existentialist ethos.