Exploded View’s self-titled debut is the culmination of unique personalities spontaneously evolving their musical backgrounds to create a dynamically shifting and equally memorizing hubbub.
The four-piece initially formed in Mexico with the intent of acting as a backing vehicle for Annika Henderson (vocals, synth) to perform her solo material live, but the harmonious musical chemistry between Henderson and her eclectic ragtag group of producers consisting of Martin Thulin (drums, guitar), Hugo Quezada (bass, synth) and Amon Melgarejo (synth, guitar) led them towards a new vital and visceral sound.
This strange musical phenomenon and bond is presented here with outstanding clarity. Recorded on an 8-track in a San Rafael neighborhood, the quartet capture every tangible moment of their chemistry over the course of this fully live, fully improvised LP.
Kraut, disco, noise rock; Exploded View cobble together a bevy of influences over the course of eleven tracks, but the roots of these genres are never homogenized into something burlesque. Instead, each influence shifts, twists and stretches the aural scope of the songs. Throughout the record, shades of haunting and heartbroken noir are given shots of adrenaline as kraut rhythms creepily scatter along. The tone setting opener ‘Lost Illusions‘ has a rumbling, subtly evolving syncopated rhythm that drives hovering guitars and an echoed vocal melody.
The combination of floating simplicity with eerie noir storytelling makes the sparse ‘One Too Many‘ a creeping but striking success. The cautiously optimistic ‘Stand Your Ground‘ is equally wistful as a J-Dilla inspired tumble thumps over tired hazy keys. “Life it seems like a cruise, like a gamble on a heart”, Henderson sings on the streaming trance inducting standout ‘Orlando‘; the album’s finest pure-pop moment, its compact infusion of dream pop aesthetics, danceable disco beats and slippery funk bass lines streamline together to create a nebulous groove of cascading nostalgia.
Usually an album recorded in such a direct manner caters towards a certain level of spontaneity, but that does not necessarily guarantee a wide sense of musical range. The dynamic nature of the musicians, as well as their collective experience as producers, allows Exploded View to explore and transition through distinct feels and musical executions with remarkable confidence. The enthralling ‘Gimme Something‘ opens with a VHS pixilated synth intro before the subterranean bass g-funk slithers into a dank, ominous twisted groove inspired by noir soundtracks. It’s one of the year’s finest and most distinctive tracks.
‘Call On The Gods‘ and the warped ‘Beige‘ showcase this project at their most breezily loose. The former is built around a clumsily optimistic guitar lead that crescendos into a fast mantra-esque spoken word part, before that last half-minute descends into what can be described as a promising “lost jam”. The latter feels like a wobbly twitchy outtake off of ‘Wowee Zowee‘; both add a dizzying sense of palate cleansing.
Bursts of explosions do frequently occur throughout the record. ‘Disco Glove‘ is a scattering piece of organized noise that features piercing chalkboard feedback as an actual hook. The emergency siren alarms heard on ‘No More Parties In The Attic‘ do better at grabbing one’s attention. The impeding building march gets more and more destructive as glitch feedback rings out. On the flipside of violence, the floating comedown of ‘Lark Descending‘ is a pretty formless lullaby featuring shimmering percussion and nodding bass plucks, closer ‘Killjoy‘ a cave slumber kiss-off that lumbers to the finish line fractured and frazzled.
Like the name suggests, Exploded View ruptures with striking moments of pop friendly brightness, but patience rewards those who attentively soak in the details of these rhythm based songs. The exciting, dynamic playing on this record provide a tense and suspenseful structure in contrast to the loose approach of the songwriting.
Art rock fans will love the singularly confident aesthetic, and audiophiles will mesmerize in the sound of it, while musicians will marvel at the tasteful display of musicianship shown throughout.
‘Exploded View’ is a captivating musical document that pristinely captures the mystery and talent behind a special frozen moment in time.
