Mirrored
Buckle your seatbelt for this one: Battles\' 2007 debut is a puzzle box of daunting complexity—and it all unfolds at a breakneck pace. While founder Tyondai Braxton\'s heavily effected vocals do come into play here, *Mirrored* is largely an instrumental record, but its instruments play like an orchestra of machinery. On tracks like \"Atlas\" and \"Tonto,” John Stanier builds tempos like a malfunctioning drum machine, while the rest of the band switch from frenzied to barely there. This is the sound of rock music happily collapsing in on itself.
This foursome's first full-length is a mix of over-the-top whimsy, extreme rhythms, vise-tight musicianship, and a 21st century man-machine interface between live and laptop. And although it may not mark the introduction of the world's first bionic rock group, Battles have done more to extend the idea of a flesh-and-blood band enhanced by computer technology than anyone since the late, lamented Disco Inferno.
Battles play rock wound as tight as a suspension cable. They're given to fits of heavy breathing and prog-minded interjections, but the songs on Mirrored traffic more in tightness that proves alluring and unforgiving. It owes to its roots—the group features past members of heavy/heady bands Helmet and Don…
Battles, the New York math-rock band of grandfathered musicians that trade in surprisingly melodic muscularity, have released a.