Like most serious music fans, self-titled spends most days devouring records across hard drives, streaming services and our trusty office turntable. That’s why we’re devoting the next month to deconstructing LPs we loved from throughout the year. Here’s one of them:
The Artist/Album: The Atlas Moth, An Ache For the Distance (Profound Lore)
Why It’s Worth Hearing: Considering that their frontman (Stavros Giannopoulos) often sports a mean handlebar mustache and looks like a cross between Bronson and a Brooklyn bartender, we weren’t sure what to make of the Atlas Moth at first. (Are they a merry/manic gang of escaped prison inmates? Carnies who happen to know how to shred? The latest ‘hipster-metal’ craze?) We certainly didn’t a profoundly psychedelic descent into the same heart of darkness territory Mastodon once explored. In other words, this is one of the year’s most effective extreme but experimental albums, offsetting its hearty harmonies and mic-passing melodies with the kind of jarring passages that’ll drive your neighbors to scream “turn that down!” within seconds.
Available At: Amazon · iTunes · Profound Lore
