3 out of 5

Label: Expert Work Records

Produced by: Kevin Kelly (mixed by)

Saying that Drill for Absentee sounds like June of 44 is accurate, but not sufficient. Emerging right around the same time as Jo44, DFA is a reminder of how subgenres in music flow – where various factors result in several bands popping up together with crossover elements, such that saying that one-sounds-like-the-other is more indicative of who you heard first than some kind of aural history. The harsh riffage blended with poetic pluckings and jazz-flecked looseness; the lyrical poetry spoken or shouted atop: a lot of bands were picking up the pieces of punk and indie in the 90s and finding their ways to something similar, though only a few made it to relative name recognition, and for this particular brand of math rock – that was June of 44.

DFA stuck to a bit more open-ended variant of the sound, while Jo44 arguably streamlined their style from album to album; the bands’ initial runs were across similar timeframes, and both returned years later with new efforts, although… June of 44’s return was rerecorded and remixed material, an ethos which I think tracks with their oeuvre in general. Whereas – finally, we get to something relevant about this release – Drill for Absentee’s 2024 / 2025 release of two EPs as an LP, “Strand of a Lake,” is all new material, and absolutely underlines that aforementioned open-endedness.

Everything about the release feels responsive: to the last X years of math rock (and its reemergence around the time of this album’s making is thanks, in part, to curated labels like Expert Work; and also the fomenting scene of which it is part – people having come of age during those early Discord years and wanting to cast light on their fave unheard-ofs); to guitarist Michael Nace and bassist Kevin Kelly having grown up quite a bit in the interim; and to the state of the world in general, with material recorded remotely and mixed together, files traded across digital space. It still sounds like DFA, but not in a way that would’ve made sense in the late 90s.

Are those changes for the better or for the worse, though? …And certainly that’s objective. DFA and June of 44 both can twinge a bit of intelligentsia cringe for me, so that bias should be born in mind; there’s nothing wrong with namechecking Wittgenstein in your lyrics, but – personally – it does call me out of the mood of the song, just by dint of feeling purposefully referential and not organic. Somewhat along these lines, the group’s composition approach for Strand Of A Lake bears some of the wiggle of old school DFA – that jazz influence that allows for a chord progression to go elsewhere; or a beat to double or triple when a single one is expected – but it’s almost being applied more broadly than before, such that it becomes hard to pick out riffs on most of the tracks. They are all pretty broad.

This is slightly more the case on volume 1 (the first half of the album) versus volume 2, where Michael and Kelly notably come together to scribe lyrics on “7riangles”. Recorded after volume 1, I could guess that the duo – joined by Okinawa-based drummer Ken Kuniyoshi – found a bit more of an internal rhythm, resulting in the set’s sharpest track, Revenge Arc, which gives the singing’s monotone some reverb and amps up the quiet/loud vibe to perfect effect.

The RIYL’s are sufficient in getting you in the door: June of 44, Fugazi, Shipping News – thinking man’s anarchy. Returning DFA fans might find Strand to be more oblique than before, but it’s no less affecting in terms of intensity once you allow for that – the years have not softened Michael or Kevin’s ability to play hard and emo-shout off of each other, with Kuniyoshi’s slippery drumming style leaning in to the wandering nature of the recording. It’s probably perfect for those who have grown up listening to math rock from the 90s, as the music is attempting to match a 2025 moment that asks – Where Do We Go From Here? However, I’ll be looking forward to DFA’s hopeful followup, when they’ll perhaps have a more defined answer to that question.