JM: Great, you're officially engaged to this balls-goofy record. The only saving graces are a couple of the guest vocalists. Hearing Gary Numan with this band would be weird as shit if I hadn't already been listening for several tracks.
JS: The tune with Numan is great, but I was a little disappointed with the collaboration with Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead.
JM: Because it actually sounds like a real song?
JS: In a sense. It just doesn't go anywhere. The momentum of the album kind of fizzles with that track. Especially with it following so close to the dizzying Wall Street and the soaring pummel of My Machines.
JM: Most of these songs don't go anywhere. If Battles could stick with the solid grooves they occasionally stumble onto, they would probably be one hell of a band. I want to hear guitar that sounds like a fucking guitar. Until then they're just talented musicians pumping out shitty electro-pop.
JS: If nothing else, you have to
appreciate John Stanier's chops behind the kit.
JM: Yeah, he's great, but he's stuck with the job of trying to tie this record into actual music. There's not a drummer in the world who can pull that off.
JS: Not even the legendary backbone of Helmet?
JM: Oh shit, is that him?
JS: That's him. The man is an absolute machine.
JM: He's still got it, but it pisses me off that he's playing with these shit-bags instead of doing... well, just about anything else.
JS: At least he's not in what Page Hamilton is calling Helmet these days.
JM: Okay, anything else except that. Final verdict, 0010 out of 0101 Binary-Only Dweeb Chat Rooms.
JS: Is that a real thing? This album isn't perfect, but it's got me excited for what they'll do next. 0082 out of 0101 Binary-Only Dweeb Chat Rooms.
JM: 0082 isn't binary. Game over.