This must have been how Radiohead sounded to 14-year-old Jude, checking out the library’s CD copies of The Bends and In Rainbows, ripping their contents to his hard drive and copying them to the iPod Touch he recieved for Christmas that year. Like Thom Yorke’s best output, Terre Noire’s MY NEW LORDis equally rooted in a vague sense of arcane mystery and an artistic vision that peeks just beyond the zeitgeist’s boundary.
Instrumentally, the Cincinnati solo act’s second-ish LP is an absurdist riff on mid-90s indie rock that suckles its formless guitar fuzz on first-wave goth rock and industrial techno motifs. It’s pretty alien stuff on its own, but once Terre Noire’s heavily tampered-with vocals and knack for composition factor into the equation, MY NEW LORD adds up to a record that transcends single labels.
At its best, the record finds a sweet spot between the foreign and familiar. Sandwiched in the middle of these two categories, (and in the middle of MY NEW LORD), is “I Can Now Hollow Through My Body”, a rhythm-shifting post-punk groove that drags Terre Noire’s CYHSY-esque whines across concrete feedback. On paper, the cut reads like a standard rock ‘n roll tune — maybe a little more artsy around the edges. In practice it’s sinister: to sound what the uncanny valley is to sight. A musical mask whose big ol’ toothy smile bares down on you like a sleep-paralysis-induced hallucination.
“Grace Behaves Like a Child” also stands out. The track’s as close to an anthem as anything the record offers, yanking its hypnotic riffs on a leash and leading them towards a dense post-rock refrain. Think Mogwai’s Mr. Beast, then add some narcotic, monotone vocals for good measure.
At 14 full-length tracks, MY NEW LORD is a fairly ambitious effort for a Bandcamp release, but its ambition does not go unrewarded. It’s a sophisticated work of modernist/meta-modernist rock that asserts itself at every turn — no move is without its purpose. Follow its lead below.
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[Editor’s Note to Writer: I dunno why you left this link in here, but it’s hyperlinked now and becoming mine. Hi!]