Self-Evident
“Angular”
(Blue Worm Records)
All of Southern California is on fire. As you read this, the Modern Fix compound is being evacuated and is preparing for the worst. Of course, I’m in Santa Barbara and the only fire around here is the one in my belly from my killer tempura. Self-Evident is from Minnesota, which rarely catches on fire. “Angular” is a post-punk, screamy nine track LP full of discordant snips of chaos and math-rock rhythms; a real mess of noise and not a whole lot else.
While a few harmonies or melodies could have saved “Angular” from its jingly-jangly demise, the strict confines of the cacophonic beats keep the listenability factor fairly low. There are little snatches of humor buried within the spastic chords and snarled vocals, such as on “Anti-attitude Attitude” where Conrad Mach yelps, “Shut up before I know just how you feel/ But can’t say much at all.” Once you get past the quirky song structure you’ll realize there is a bit of hope for Self-Evident, but who’s got time for getting past quirks when you’ve got to evacuate your headquarters? Not this midget.
