Battles – Gloss Drop

Posted by Todd Hamm

Battles' sophomore Warp Records release, Gloss Drop leans less on the tweaked experimental angle than did it's predecessor Mirrored, but as always, the band's ability to graft largely unapproachable sounds into a coherent groove remains simply transcendent.

The first few minutes of the record set things up with an outstanding melody drop, where robot noises give way to a helicopter guitar effect (which could just as easily be steel drums being played through an office fan) before the rhythm section sweeps in. The drums, or rather the spacious recording on the drum tracks (it still sounds like they're recording in that glass case) on the album are a welcome human element to the production, which adds a comfortable familiarity to the mix of largely unidentifiable instrumentation on the tracks. This kind of juxtaposition plays into the overall complexity of the album, and is a good indication that the deviated course this album has taken from the other half of their discography was a purposeful departure, rather than one of necessity. Though the band is notably without their first album's vocalist Tyondai Braxton on Gloss Drop, the focus here lies more on the instrumentation and bounce than anything else, and one realizes--though Braxton's contribution filled the role nearly perfectly--that it always did.

After the silly, pop-friendly "Ice Cream", for which the band brought in guest vocalist Matias Aguayo, the album hits its stride with "Futura", a monstrous near-Ratatat guitar beat (check the video below) that is possibly the most radio-accessible track of the bunch, and there is not a low moment until the album's lukewarm finale "Sundome" (featuring journeyman vocalist Yamantaka Eye), which unfortunately brings the LP to a comparatively uninspired close. The meat of the album though, is packed with amazing tracks like "Inchworm", which evokes a baby elephant lope through soca country; the Caribbean dance-infused "Dominican Fade"; and the hard-hitting buildup "White Electric", that serves as reminder that Battles is still a highly capable rock band.

The "jam" is certainly strong on Gloss Drop, which could be expected by any conglomerate of seasoned New York area musicians, but the jam never takes over; the band never gets lost in itself. Here, Battles has created a focused, admirable follow up to the groundbreaking, nearly-impossible-to-follow-up Mirrored, that may not be exactly what a certain sector of Battles fans expected, but for what it's worth, they've done it in style.