White Hills

Fans of fuzzed-out space rock will be familiar with the stupidly prolific White Hills, centred upon the duo of frontman Dave W. and awkwardly named bassist Ego Sensation. So You Are... So You'll Be (the NYC band's seventh studio album) opens with "InWords," a brief red herring of an intro built upon the chime of a subway intercom announcement and layered with demonic vocals. It's followed by standout track "In Your Room," before the unexpected diversion of the hypnotic, pseudo-ambient "The Internal Monologue" and then returns to familiar territory with the title track. In terms of flow, the album's all over place, but exhilaratingly so. The trademark fuzzed-out/maxed-out tracks retain a welcome rawness, especially the drum sound, and the clever aural placement enables the listener to attempt picking out individual parts from the intense, chaotic murk. Expertly recorded by Martin Bisi (famous for his work with Swans, Sonic Youth and White Zombie), the production is perfect and the songs are mostly more than compelling enough to make it work.