3 out of 5

Label: RVNG Intl

Produced by: Jared Paolini (engineered by)

“…an alloy of erudite influences and approaches given frenetic gravity in pursuit of a united musical and political vision.” Oh geez. That’s the album’s description from the band’s bandcamp, and if any band could get away with such highfalutin describin’ and have it not make my eyes roll out of my body, well… yeah, it can be Horse Lords. Also, I’ll allow that this lil’ summary feels true, and is further well summarized by that album title: comradely objects. However, on their way to the synergy crafted by these seven tracks, Horse Lords shifted (however purposefully) their angular kraut- / math-rock jams into an almost easy-listening version of their style, streamlined down to the smoothest of beats, and during which even jazz freakouts have a soothing vibe to them.

None of this sounds unlike Horse Lords. It is simply – accepting that composing and playing this stuff isn’t simple – Horse Lords summarized, taking up their years’ of iterating on their sounds, and lasering in on the most to-the-point way of presenting that. This means there’s not a lot of room for wandering in any given track, but also equally means we’re leaning more into the krautrock / drone nature of some of their more repetitive songs. And on the one hand, this is a very organic sound this time out, with its bass warm and the drums slightly tom-tommed next to your ears, but that also kind of removes one of my favorite effects of a Horse Lord track: that it can play with being angular and musical at the same time. The line between those two styles is something more momentum based. Which, as mentioned, can also embrace wild horn solos, but the presentation on Comradely Objects cocoons even that in a sense of safety.

It’s a very listenable, non-disappointing disc. It could also be said to be the group’s most accessible, definitely delivering the kind of minimal, precise instrumental style that defines the Horse Lords sound, if recorded and presented in a somewhat more casual manner than before.