4 out of 5

Label: Contraphonic

Produced by: Justin Perkins (engineer)

I should really give this five stars just because of how listenable it is, but I can’t deny the lull in the middle of the disc… it disappears before it fully drags you down, but its enough to let you loose to wander for a few minutes.

IfIHadAHiFi made a splash with their chaotic, noise-laden punk.  The noise maker left the band, and since then, the group has slowly evolved into more of an aggressive pop rock act, still not palatable enough for commercial stylings and still toting a potent snarl, but not quite as ear-rattling.  ‘No More Music’ was with their new lineup, but prior to this shift taking place; it is ear-rattling.  The drums thump, the bass herky-jerks, the guitar soars, the vocals fist-pump and shout (vocals can do this).  When the chorus of the first song tells us the band is out to steal our potential energy, you believe it.  You give it willingly.  Following track ‘Chance-Medley’ reaffirms that the essence of noise is still with the group, even if the samples and bleeps and bloops now fully blend with the songs instead of emphasizing discord.  ‘Chance’ lumbers left and right, gathering riffs and momentum until it comes together with the same gotta-sing-along style chorus as the opener.  The next couple tracks follow this zoomy vibe, but between some instrumental experiments – ‘Gongye’ and ‘Tussle and Loop to Speed,’ the distorted yelps and boom-boom-bip beat start to blend together.  And admittedly HiFi’s lyrics lean toward fun and snarky versus overly thoughtful or memorable, so there’s not even really the odd line to grab your attention.  But, as mentioned, once ‘Tussle’ concludes, ‘Exit Interview’ shakes things up by slowing it down and lessening up on the vocal manipulations.  It takes an enjoyably wayward route to its conclusion (as do most of the songs), and lets us down gracefully for the final build-up to the concluding title track, which builds and builds to an awesome climax, somehow topping all the building and climaxing we’ve done up to this point.

Of course, we’re not really done yet – there’s a Stevie Wonder cover, that’s delivered deliciously poppy and straight.

This was the first HiFi disc I believe I listened to, and it I fell in love pretty instantly.  While it might lack a direct single, it has that kind of accessibility that makes it hard to stop spinning the disc once you start.