2012 Nefarious Industries

4 out of 5

New Jersey's So is the Tongue is a difficult band to pin down. The trio, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Ron Varod, drummer Justin Thouret and, at the time of the recording of A Child of Divorce, bassist Alex Levey (since replaced by A Fucking Elephant's Greg Meisenberg), have distilled the band's wide range of influences into more of a signature sound than in the past, casting off some of the psychedelic meandering of their debut, in favor of more deliberate songwriting.

The band's first album, 2009's Torpid and Blight, was an intriguing introduction — an hour of music broken into only four tracks, each an eclectic collage of ideas, from twisted King Crimson-esque chromatic freak-outs to ominous electronic soundscapes to lush acoustic arrangements. A Child of Divorce continues to draw from this broad palette, but focuses the ideas into more-deliberately arranged songs and consistent moods. The album's second track, "Either Way," builds from a minimal guitar intro over rolling, distant percussion into a pummeling climax of relentless drums and fuzz bass, navigating through several peaks and valleys on the way but never losing sight of the handful of melodies that hold the track together. This strategy is deployed more or less throughout the album. A common backbone of oddly aggressive clean guitar and Thouret's busy patterns anchors the first three tracks and the instrumental segues that bind them together. The closer, "You're Nobody," — which ranges from a blistering near-grindcore opening to ambient swells of guitar noise and cymbals — is the lone exception to the band's newfound congruity and comes closest to their past eclecticism.

The rich-but-raw production, helmed by Dysrhythmia/Behold the Arctopus bassist Colin Marston, helps further establish the overall vibe of A Child of Divorce and places greater emphasis on the band's previously sparse use of vocals. Varod's clean vocals are both more prominent both in the mix and more frequently occurring than in the past. They're often accompanied to great effect by several layers of harmony, especially in the foreboding quiet parts of "Either Way" and the upbeat, intermittently chaotic opener "Conflicting Stories."

As would be expected from a band that cites both Khanate and Jeff Buckley as influences, making direct comparisons to the sound So is the Tongue arrives at is not an easy task. There are hints of Chino Moreno in Varod's vocals — just-in-control melodies giving way to savage screams. The airy, tapped guitar passages in "People Don't Forget" evoke Pele or the less-chaotic moments of Tera Melos, and that song's grinding ending would not be out of place on the first two Kayo Dot records (understandable, as Varod is a frequent contributor to that band's live lineup). But So is the Tongue manages to combine these vaguely familiar elements in a fresh and genuine way, never succumbing to the cliches of whatever genre they choose to flirt with.

Check out some live video of So is the Tongue we shot in October 2011.