By now, we shouldn't be surprised with anything Boris do. While the Japanese version of their new album Smile has been available for months, Southern Lord's release sees the band nurturing two substantially different versions of what is nominally the same record.
In both incarnations, Boris make concerted efforts to interpolate something previously un-thought of in their musical formula. For example, the band employs bass-boosted, grimed-out disco on the Japanese track "Message" and then uses the same structure to birth "Statement," a thrashy younger brother, for the American version. Each share the same unique distortion of guitar and drum tone, mutations that in fact find their way into nearly every sound on both versions. These stylistic and tonal subtleties are simultaneously expected and edgy as ever.
But because of this, Smile might piss off a bunch of longtime Boris fans, which is an admirable feat in itself. Although tracks like "Dead Destination" and "Shoot!" are just as hard as previous output, they clash abrasively with the melodicism of cuts like "Next Saturn" ("My Neighbor Satan" on the American version). The latter is relatively humble, almost a Q And Not U sound-a-like, before diving shamelessly into a psychedelic B section. The two parts cut back and forth several times, and after a surprisingly long five minutes, it's impossible to tell exactly what just happened.
Despite any confusion arising from the multiple versions, the tracks function as part of a cohesive whole that manages to pull off something quite incredible. This dual angle creates an instant continuity, suggesting that the songs' composition shines beyond its individual production. As if to accelerate the test of time, Boris' drastically different mixes prove that their songwriting is still what makes them the much-scrutinized band that they are.
Admittedly, there are moments when the trio pushes it a little too far. The first section of "You Put Up Your Umbrella" sounds like a Beach House tribute with its reverberated SK-1 percussion, and while Boris fully acknowledges their venture into influences that "are not cool in noise and metal," it sounds slightly forced. The song quickly changes gears into an arena rock offering with an eerie remainder from the first section trailing distantly behind.
Although initially unsettling, this kind of incongruence isn't much different from the heart of Boris' music itself, which is precisely what makes it so convincingly confusing. Jagged song and register changes, for example, result in a brutally raw elaboration reminiscent of their debut album, Absolutego. And thankfully, this record is not a rehashing of 2005's much-acclaimed Pink, so a song like "Message" might show up on a few "hey, noise is cool!" mix tapes, but that's about it. While Smile may be inarguably more accessible than their previous releases, it still has enough cloaked treasures to keep the diehards interested. With their new ideas oscillating between the hard and long-form manifestations of sludgy noise, the band has changed less than we think, and this is a very good thing.
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