Ahleuchatistas
On The Culture Industry

There are those who rushed to label it as the classic debut neither here nor there, then quickly moved on to celebrate the good things done afterward. Yet, personally, I consider this album, if not a masterpiece, certainly an excellent work from every point of view. In fact, I find it far superior to its own 'sequel', a sequel that saw the American band move away from its experimental roots, steering towards progressive and jazz-core influences that are not always exciting, in my opinion, often too generic.

The Ahleuchatistas of "On The Culture Industry" have their own specific sound, a sound they self-define as 'avant-technical-post-Beefheart', a singular yet fitting name. To simplify, theirs is a math-rock of the most brainy and maniacal archetype, unhealthy, twisted, and loquacious, chaotically organized, technically superior, now more than ever strengthened by those intricate instrumental patterns, odd times, and that tentacular cohesion which is a primary characteristic of this genre. Secondary arguments are not lacking - where experimentation reigns supreme - such as the drone industrialisms of "I Don't Remember Falling Asleep Here" and the mutant jazz of "A Thought Like A Hammer".

Numerous are the references to entities such as Don Caballero and Cul De Sac, Derek Poteat's bass work stands out (always inspired and at the center of it all, a source of hefty and cerebral lines), Sean Dail's drumming is remarkable (intense, nervous, paranoid, decidedly less aggressive compared to the math standards, but never technically bland, often showcasing a more jazz approach), while the guitar, although not skimping on more or less melodic digressions not far from certain post-rock, is almost always dirty and feticist, the riffs emerging are, as in the case of the monumental "Al Jazeera" and "Lacerate", masturbatory and psychedelic.

The production lacks that detail and Albini-like cleanliness, often noticeable in various Touch and Go releases, but it is also the contrast between its unabashedly DIY sound and its anything but naive realization that makes "On The Culture Industry" such a peculiar work. 4.5