4 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Ben Green (as Resonance 104.4 FM – station for which this was recorded)

There’s a lot of noise on VHF.  Some of it leans toward drone, some towards psychedelia; some is abrasive, some is quite beautiful.  Some of it – like Ourselves – crisscrosses lines back and forth from chaotic to contemplative.

While there are several players listed here, and indeed several sounds, we get an element that doesn’t often stand this far out on VHF releases: drumming.  As pummeled by Alex Neilson, this is a powerful, ever shifting tool, given a mixture of screeching guitar and scratchy effects from Youngs and his collaborators.  Opener Beam is at the peak of chaos, a storm of the duo trading a rumbling beat and feedbacked riffs for 7+ minutes, leading into the more tribal pace of the massive, 36 minute Mexico.  Given the length of that track, it has room to roam and grow, and does so constantly, the propulsive backbone fading behind Youngs’ hazy vocals and the uptick of static and tones.  If the first track is dark skies, Mexico is a lull in the frenzy, but with foreboding clouds and distant lightning.  It feints masterfully between more aggressive, drum-filled passages; contemplative, open-ended stretches;, and then nervvy, never-ending buildup as that storm perpetually edges in.  The closing rendition of God Bless the Master is more like a coda, and thus not quite as gripping as what’s come before.  On its own, it’s a peacefully weird offering of religious hymn and restless noise, but it doesn’t move and morph like the preceding tracks, and so tends to function more as a cool-off than its own distinct thing, though still offering enough depth to remain engaging for its 16 minutes.