2 out of 5

Label: SFI Records (reissue)

Produced by: Matt Bayles (recorded and mixed by)

Wow, what a misfire.

If we flash forward to Delta IV’s subsequent releases, bandmembers Jared Pace and Michael Schorr are both on synths, and working with Erik Blood, Matt Bayles relegated to recording drums. This is a pretty ideal setup for the duo, who fit into the synth realms that label SFI Records explores via more of a krautrock / spacerock angle – slow, repetitive builds to big ol’ beaty landscapes. Back on 2, though, the concept wasn’t as realized: they’re still playing guitars, and I think there was a swirling idea to maybe be like a mathrock instrumental act, with synths, maybe like Zombi, yeah, and having Bayles on as your producer and mixer for that – yes, I get it. But Delta IV’s heart wasn’t in it, and it’s very, very clear.

We do get some pretty amazing jams here: while the mark might be missed overall, Pace and Schorr have many of the right pieces, and when those pieces favor something rather drum forward – opener The Jaunt, Bodies, Fugitive – Bayles knows what to do to punch it up, and the duo is down with rocking out on a solid groove, somewhere on the less-dub side of Dub Trio, or the more aggressive side of Turing Machine. But even at 4-6 minutes song lengths, you’ll notice these same tracks tend to peter out; there’s this baffling dichotomy where the group will structure things for post-rock buildups, but then kind of wuss out – uncertain if they actually want to build up to anything at all. But because it’s produced for that, it’s also not exactly set for something you just sink into. And when the group wants to be more synth forward, everyone gets confused: Bayles’ somewhat clinical engineering style isn’t well-suited to electro sans some kind of riff to hang it off of (see: every electronics-only Minus the Bear track), and Pace and Schorr keep feinting towards turning it back into a rock song.

When the volume is up, none of this much matters, admittedly. The songs “pulse” well, and satisfy on a base level of giving you something to bob your head too. However, when I’m paying more attention, I’d find I kept waiting for something more to happen in a song, for a point to emerge, and then it would just end. The mix is a bit too pretty for rock, but not heavy enough to really land that way, either. That’s the misfire: two musicians who had some voices and influences around them suggesting they could be a stripped down Russian Circles, while their hearts were actually set on something more atmospheric.

Coming back to 2, armed with later Delta IV releases, I can better appreciate this as a formative entry. As a first pass, though, it’s rather underbaked and underwhelming.