3 out of 5

Label: Discos Mascarpone

Produced by: Encono

In my mental history of the road from punk and metal to various versions of indie rock, things split off between Touch and Go sludge, Seattle sulkiness, and DC hardcore, and then some further lines are drawn. This isn’t an accurate history, but it gives me a way to shorthand people into genre columns, and we love that kind of structure (“we” being me, of course).

That Touch and Go scene further iterates: you get your Steve Albini post-rock; you get your Skin Graft no-wave, and yeah, I’m being pretty particular here because you then have groups like Encono – y’know, from Spain, because influences go far and wide – who kind of pick between the two schools, bearing the heft of Dazzling Killmen, and the bass-heavy slumber of Slint. And then they also would’ve liked the post-grunge stuff of the 90s. Am I painting a very clear picture?

Encono most directly reminds me of a group called Broadcast Soldier, who also snip-snipped from these scenes, but with a sort of superficial nature to it. Encono’s style is appreciably a bit looser, and rawer, and maybe for that reason, the songs really take off when they’re not trying so hard to be post-something or other, and instead kind of rock out, with peak moments of Desenlace Tragico and Crecer Rápido really shining, and at least one section of pretty much every song landing on one solid, passionate run of playing and shout-singing. But the rest of it can come across as a bit of a mix; indecisive in its mood, and avoidant of any really catchy riffs or choruses. Not speaking Spanish, it’s entirely possible more of this would catch my ear if I understood what was being sung, but I do appreciate the singer’s earnestness – it’s still just part of a “general” heavy rock vibe that required the band to be a bit more direct to nudge things out of that middleground.