4 out of 5

Label: Joyful Noise Recordings

Produced by: Aaron Cupples & Gareth Liddiard (recorded by)

I had a couple of different reads on this, as Submersive Behavior is kind of the Moonburn EP rearranged and with a couple new tracks, but I do think it affects that material (positively, and when it was already excellent) by that rearrangement, and is plus/minus then balanced out by the new stuff, making ownership of both worthwhile. So, initially, I was down on feeling like I was getting a repeat purchase; then I appreciated the differences.

Namely: we get an additional cover, of Jimi Hendrix’s Ladyland track 1983, and another original – the rollicking Golden Ratio. I don’t necessarily want to peel back an analysis of the inclusion of the Hendrix track in terms of album / EP themes, but Golden Ratio admittedly doesn’t necessarily stand alongside the more relationship-focused tunes. As to the quality of these tracks, though, Golden Ratio is up there with some TFS classics. The band is less directly genre experimental than mates King Gizzard, but this feels like a bid to rope in some no wave James Chance-y vibes, and the group effects it well… while also keeping it a blazingly vicious and weird TFS jam, which is the only way it could go. Sonically, it definitley works well with everything else, giving us a different flavor than the warbling rock of Moonburn, the acoustic take on Aspirin, and then march-like punk of Stooges’ cover Ann; and then it’s just a badass, very raging track, with prime Liddiard vocals.

As to the Hendrix jam, you have to filter this through me not being much of a Hendrix dude. I’ve been through Ladyland multiple times thanks to friends and having worked at a music store where such things eventually get played, but it’s not an album (or artist) that’s ever grabbed me much. That said, Jimi is certainly a good choice for TFS to cover, and I think they do a good job of matching their playing style to the moderately more mellow bluesiness of the track’s opening third-ish. The long instrumental stretch kind of loses me in general, and TFS choose to make it longer and looser, which loses me even more. Beyond the familiarity factor – moreso for JH fans – I’m not sure this one lands for me.

But back on the B-side, the addition of Golden Ratio plus the reorganization of tracks making more use out of Moonburn’s and Ann’s relative peaks is a big boost, again making both of these records their own experiences. Absolute bonus points for the album artwork, though, which gives us a bogus rundown of each song being a cover of madeup acts, the Hendrix track included.