While it is the common assumption that most bands follow an uncomplicated career trajectory that begins with the more off-putting and daring achievements and slowly metamorphosis into a more grounded approach to all commonly held notions of normalcy, certain artists just seem to head into paths much more alien and eccentric as the years pass. Tom Waits is possibly the most mainstream example of this reverse on the typical artistic life-cycle, and in the indie rock underground, acts like the Liars and now Ex Models appear to be forsaking any easy attempt at widespread cult stardom by challenging the fortitude of their audiences.
Like the Liars, the Models have lost some members along the way, more than likely because the thirst for far more risky ventures into the murk of experimental tomfoolery is not a prospect shared by all. The Models have always been one-step ahead of their peers, even when they were ripping off Brainiac and Devo on 2001's Other Mathematics; but since 2003's spastic and brilliant brilliant Zoo Psychology full-length, it was clear that the Models were headed for an identity much more thrilling than their modest beginnings let on.
Now reduced to a duo of founding member Shahin Motia and Zach Lehrhoff, plus Oneida's Kid Millions on live drum duties, the Models have purged most of the friendlier quirks from their sound (i.e. the funk and pop influences) for a sonic blueprint that's all-around bludgeoning in its post-no-wave force. The songs are longer this time around, and although a tune like "That's Funny I Don't Feel Like A Shithead" appears, for the first 45 seconds, to be familiar fare from the group, the closing four minute guitar-duel drone tests listener patience with its generally unchanging repetition. But the experience avoids monotony in an almost inexplicable way, whether through Millions' intricate warp-speed fills or because of the sheer beauty noise die-hards find in these piles of ear-splitting fuzz.
It's the Models' impossibly frantic stamina that keeps Chrome Panthers from assuming the guise of the work of another standard spazz-rock outfit. The guitar chords are little more than fractured punctures, and the vocals are a blur of indecipherable yelps, resulting in an experience almost chokes on its own preposterousness. "Headlines" feels constantly on the brink of collapse, and the fact that it's able to keep pace with its own unseeming energy is a feat in itself. Likewise, the closing epic "Chrome Hearts" proves that the Models' lack of concern with polishing their sound for accessibility's sake is a crucial plus; it's sprawled with feedback and in-the-red static, and it's all the more glorious because of it.
Chrome Panthers, like most by-products associated with the noise genre, won't be for all tastes, but it's hands-down one of the year's most compelling and vaguely straight-forward expressions of rock-based white noise-scrawled terror. Six tracks and 27 minutes may seem like a sham, but it's as deliriously addictive and soul-stirring as only severely damaged atonal reverberation can be.
1. Chrome Panthers
2. That's Funny I Don't Feel Like A Shithead
3. Mutiny
4. Buy American
5. Headlines
6. Chrome Hearts
More about: Ex Models
