The new Flat Worms is out today on Drag City, more specifically the Ty Segall-associated God? label. The record, Antarctica, is likely to get more attention due to Steve Albini's engineering work on the platter than anything else. What's here is sharp post-punk flavored with touches of proto-psychedelia. And in a sense, it's a refinement of the group's earlier works. Will Ivy (Dream Boys, Wet Illustrated, Bridez), Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby, The Babies), and Tim Hellman (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps) may have finally made a record that sounds as distinctive as that of any of the bands they've been in before, you know?
"The Aughts", reportedly recorded in one take with Albini at the board, is propulsive and machine-like, while "Plaster Cats" is like early Wire, Albini's work here very evident. Elsewhere, "Market Forces" grinds forward unrelentingly, the elegant and simple hooks here getting the work done of making this rock, while "The Mine" reveals a debt owed to the first wave of New Wave bands. If Flat Worms are less interested in reviving a moribund form, there's a sense that material like "Condo Colony" has a timeless quality about it, one which makes it sound faintly like bands separated by decades, from Joy Division to Big Black to Queens of the Stone Age.
Antarctica is a remarkably concise record, and a riveting document of a form being pursued perfectly. There's almost no variety here, of course, with only closer "Terms of Visitation" revving up like something on Dischord from the Clinton years. But the lack of variance here in the hooks is an indication of just how dedicated the fellas in Flat Worms are at chasing their one muse into the heart of the sun. This album surges and pops in an admirable fashion, making this the most consistent release in the Flat Worms catalog.
Antarctica is out today via the God? imprint on Drag City.
[Photo: Owen Schmit]