5 out of 5

Label: MIE Music

Produced by: Pelt (recorded by)

…Even now, as I relisten to Effigy while writing this review, I am surprised at how quickly its songs pass by; how soon the album is over. I love Pelt, but their work, even if working in shorter bursts, can stretch on. Not exhaustively, and by design – they are, in part, a drone band, after all – just sometimes you / the band are coasting on a vibe for minutes at a time before the dam bursts and noise finally takes over, or a rhythm or more defined feeling emerges. That is part of the experience; part of that design; and part of the listening experience I expect. For top-down intents and purposes, Effigy’s collages of strings and gongs and keys and several 10+ minute tracks effects the same, except I find myself quite dialed in throughout, and perhaps paradoxically that doesn’t make the minutes stretch out – the album is almost more “traditional” in the sense that the songs / sequencing have structured to them, though, fear not, not in a way that goes against the Pelt sound(s) by any means. Perhaps it’s that the range is pretty all encompassing this time: from the relative clatter of opener Of Jack’s Dabari to the folksy followup Wings of Dirt, to the way atmospheric nature sounds in Last Toast Before Capsizing blossom into horror movie percussion and feedback, on through Ashes of a Photograph’s blissful 20-minute ragga, and the loose, 2-minute shambolic ramble of closer The Doctor’s Nightcap… These are all sounds on a similar wavelength and played in a kind of unsettled range that’s not improv, not outright noise, not necessarily the open-ended blasts of older Pelt explorations; while – repeating that paradox from before – this somewhat wandering approach ends up feeling very focused, like the group (operating as a foursome of Mike Gangloff, Mikel Dimmick, Nathan Bowles, and Patrick Best) had a clear vision in mind for the album, and dedicated themselves to finding different, Pelt-y ways to talk about it.

That does somewhat vibe with the album’s name being a reference to the ‘effigy mounds’ around Madison, Wisconsin – animal-shaped hills of unclear origin (on lands associated with various tribes, though I don’t believe they can be tied to a definitive source): images of things we all understand but reimagined, re-presented atypically and passed through a lens of history. That is very much the feeling presented by the entirety of Effigy, using Pelt-y habits and notes from their Americana associations, cinema, field sounds, to try to “illustrate” these effigies, or whatever idea they represented to the band.

It’s a very affecting album, and a very consuming one. While perhaps not as noisy as some “classic” Pelt, nor as relatively celebratory as some of their improv sessions can get, I’d say it’s one of their most intense compositions over all, and provides relatively concise takes on their different styles so as to make it a good entry point for new listeners, as much as it is satisfying for longtime fans as well.