3 out of 5

Produced by: Bob Weston, Steve Albini

Label: Thrill Jockey

Flemish altruism is one of those albums that gives off a vibe that makes you sense it’s going to be one of your new favorite listens, but only a few of the tracks really stick the landing.  Floating around the California scene and comprised of players from bands from the same, A Minor Forest did the singles / 7″ shuffle before hooking up with Albini – certainly a partial purveyor of that vibe – for this album.  As opener ‘…But The Pants Stay On’ slinks in on post-rock pluckings before the heavy hitting distortion triggers, you’re thinking “Slint” and looking forward to where this band can go, as their quiet/loud dynamic is much quieter and much louder than usual examples from the scene.  The band seems to have satisfying your curiosity as their agenda, as followup ‘Bill’s Mom Likes To Fuck‘ lurches from slow, monotone Codeine into shrieked and shredded hardcore, jumping back and forth over this divide for ten minutes.  Which, alas, grows somewhat exhausting, and seems to expend the group’s compositional skills, as much of the album follows a similar template.  More often than not they hit a successful groove, and there are riffs from tracks you’ll remember, but a purposefully incorporated improvisational element seems to make most tracks wander, and not quite find their point.  The album is at its best when its keeping it simpler, such as the moody, low(er) key ‘Ed is 50.’

As part of your instrumental post-rock catalogue, Flemish Altruism fills a particularly lacking niche of slowcore blended with hardcore, with a lot of interesting passages stitched between.  But this niche seems to become the overriding elements of the band’s identity on the release, losing tracks of delivering songs over a vibe.  It’s an album to spin up once in a while, but probably not one you’ll outright crave.