Experimental Rock With Benjamin Booker, The Mars Volta, Mclusky, Preoccupations, & Shearling: Rapid Fire Reviews

Rather than locking in on a super-specific genre of experimental rock, this time we're just going to do a sweep of several already difficult-to-define records from under that umbrella, enjoy. 

Lower - Benjamin Booker

Even though I'm not a particularly bit fan of Benjamin Booker's first two album's in the 2010s, I went into Lower all the way back in December with genuine hype. That's because he had made a few notable appearances on various billy woods projects where he slotted into the world of the mysterious rapper nicely. Additionally, one of billy's frequent collaborators, Kenny Segal, normally a hip-hop focused producer, is on board for wall to wall production on Lower. That all came together on singles like the solid "SAME KIND OF LONELY" and the even better "SLOW DANCE IN A GAY BAR" where Segal's production gave Booker's muted rock stylings a nocturnal and hypnotic boost that I found pretty infectious. 

Lower gets off to a pretty good start as well. "BLACK OPPS" is a strong opening track with a dense instrumental blasting away behind intimate whispered vocals. The third song "POMPEII STATUES" is packed full of catchy refrains that aren't burdened by some of the weirder vocal effects that pop up again and again throughout later portions of the record. Aside from that handful of highlights, though, the record can be a very mixed bag. The vocals are far and away my biggest issue, which is a problem on two fronts. The first is that the whispered singing deployed throughout this record is great when its the intimate focus of a much grander sonic palette, but when they're left to sink or swim more or less on their own, it can be extremely deflating. There's also the problem of the weird glitchy vocal effects that sometimes pop up and really don't help anything.

The worst example is "REBECCA LATIMER FELTON." It's a shame because the song has a pretty interesting, acoustic guitar-driven instrumental, but the vocal effects are so garish and clash hard with the gentler sounds. This isn't the worst song on the album, though. That honor goes to the quieter ballads "NEW WORLD" and "HEAVY ON MY MIND" which manage to sound both slightly grating and very boring at the same time, really not doing much for me. Lower may be the most interesting Benjamin Booker record yet on account of its highlights and artistic risks, but as far as consistency it's as hit or miss as ever. Even though I'm looking forward to the next time I see him in the tracklist of a rap record, I can't see myself returning to this record beyond a small handful of songs. 5.5/10

Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio - The Mars Volta

A band as legendary as The Mars Volta have had a pretty confusing second act. Despite maintaining a presence as an absolute must-see touring act, I was in elementary school the last time the band dropped an album to universal acclaim, 2008's Bedlam In Goliath. Since then, the band has certainly had their moments, with individual highlights to be found on records like Noctourniquet and The Mars Volta, but largely they've seemed to wander away from what first made them so exciting and lose a lot of their luster in the process. Lucro sucio is the furthest they've wandered yet, dishing out short pieces of jazz and psychedelia that never seem to add up instrumentally or thematically to a satisfying conclusion. 

Much of this album is painted in pretty abstract fashion, with songs that barely run the length of snippets. So a moment early on in the record like "Reina Tormenta" does sound good, but it never really does anything with it and the songs that follow fail to build on it. And when full standalone songs do materialize, they're often far below the standards I've come to expect from the band. The annoying repetition of "The Iron Rose" comes off as nothing more than distracting. Plus, the closer to the entire album Lucro sucio is a fantastically deflating point to end off on. 

Of course, because of the talent that still operates the strings behind The Mars Volta, there are occasional moments of excellence. "Cue the sun" and "Alba del orate" are a one-two-punch that starts grittier and finishes poppies with a pretty infectious instrumental bridging the gap. Occasionally the record goes on some stranger genre experiments deploying distant cold instrumental and reverb-soaked vocals, most of which turn out pretty good, with the best being "Celajie" and "Morgana." But those highlights aren't enough to save this record from the mediocrity it largely languishes in. Even as an occasional flash reminds you that you're listening to The Mars Volta, it doesn't often feel that way. 4.5/10

the world is still here and so are we - Mclusky

While there aren't a whole ton of people in the states who hold Mclusky up as essential punk and noise rock in the year 2025, they're always had a soft spot in my heart. Part of that is because I got in on their spinoff band Future Of The Left during the heyday of my musical development but also because I think a record like Mclusky Do Dallas holds up quite well. That's why I was excited for the band to return, especially after hearing a few of the singles, projecting what they had in store. "unpopular parts of a pig" is the very best of them and coincidentally is up first on the album. I love the song's unrelenting momentum and the visceral, gory pig metaphors. Even though "people person" and "chekov's gun" weren't QUITE as thrilling, I still liked them both a lot. 

Unfortunately, I don't find the deep cuts quite as satisfying. Or at least to be more specific, I find several of them satisfying at first, but in an attempt to make the material purposefully more difficult to listen to, many of them are ripped to far less appealing places. Don't get me wrong I know Mclusky songs aren't meant to go down easy or anything, but the only song among the deep cuts I can really unequivocally praise from start to finish is the short but delightfully bizarre "the battle of los angelsea." 

"cops and coppers" is one of the most unhinged songs on the record with constantly shifting vocal styles that make for a wild ride. Even though some of them are supremely annoying, the thick thumping instrumental underneath still sounds great throughout. Similarly, "autofocus on the prime directive" starts out as one of the best songs here. Unfortunately, it ends as one of the worst divulging into a purposefully annoying vocal style that goes on for longer than you can possibly imagine it would. The peak of this dichotomy is "kafka-esque novelist franz kafka" which is probably the most razor sharp piece of songwriting on the entire album. But despite the witty humor it never actually assembles into a song that's enjoyable to listen to with obnoxious group chanting ruining several refrains that would otherwise be drilled into my head. 

Combine all of that with a closing run that sort of fizzles out and the defining motif of this record is missed potential. Yes despite that, I find myself being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel every time I listen. There are absolutely huge highlights and even songs that wander off course do tend to start strong. What results is a mixed bag but one that's easy to take a glass-half-full approach to. Even if they aren't setting the world on fire like they have at their very best, those same instincts still exist in the blood of their comeback album. 6/10

Ill at ease - Preoccupations

Of all the albums in this rapid-fire reviews, this is the one I wish I could have given a full review to. The context alone is dense, touching on great albums from Women, the band whose break-up led to Viet Cong and eventually Preoccupations, each with a great self-titled record under their belt (despite being the same band). Not to mention the surprise critical darling of 2024 Cindy Lee, whose roots also trace back to Women. Despite critics falling off of the last two Preoccupations albums, I actually kind of liked both of them. We last heard from the band in 2022 when they released the more desert-rock inspired Arrangements and while I defended the shift for some of its catchier highlights. I was thrilled to hear the band back in post-punk fashion on Ill at ease. 

That started with the excellent lead single and opener "Focus" which sets the tone for the throwback post-punk with elements of contemporary darkwave mixed in. It also has a hook catchier than anything I've heard the band do since at least 2016, and it's stayed on repeat ever since it first dropped. I also loved the third single and title track with its stuttering drum machine, eerie vocals, and chorus that makes two sizeable jumps in intensity. Those sonic highlights keep up among the deep cuts with "Retrograde," which takes its time building up to a satisfying conclusion with dreamy reverb and distant drums. There's also "Krem2" the dramatic finale to the record whose optimistic group vocals undercut the nihilistic lyrics in a way I find pretty interesting. 

There are also lyrical highlights on the album. "Andromeda" is an interesting cut that I think is about a lost spaceship. The dejected lyrics and neurotic repetition go great with the roaring guitars, and it made the song sound better and better every time I listened. Then it's followed by "Panic," which really lives up to its name. Lyrically, the song starts at a place of complete detachment, leading into an instrumental uptick of piercing guitars and anxiety-inducing vocals that I find intoxicating. In fact, there are only two songs on the record that I don't care for. The first being the second single "Bastards" which is brighter and more sentimental, a sound I've never thought the band really excelled at. Then there's the worst cut 
"Sken" which does make an admirable attempt at experimenting with disjointed drum machines and guitar lines, and even though I admire the concept, the result is a difficult listen. 

I could go into a lot more detail, but the point is that Ill at ease is a very solid return to form from Preoccupations and one that I think fans of the band who haven't clicked with them in a while should definitely give a try. They don't exactly return to the sonic darkness of their first two records, but they're swimming in the same pool and with lyrics that actually do go to darker and more engaging places, there's plenty of reason to dig deep on these songs. What results is pretty much exactly the Preoccupations album I wanted. 7.5/10

Motherfucker, I am Both: "Amen" and "Hallelujah"... - Shearling

Everyone has heard the phrase "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," but this new Shearling album makes me feel the full weight of that statement. Out of the ashes of Sprain, whose 2018 self-titled EP and 2023 album The Lamb As Effigy both became surprise critical gems, comes Shearling. And for the band's very first statement, we have this absolutely monstrous 62-minute single-song album that carries the weight of the word "experimental" in "experimental rock" like an anchor. Just as fruitless as it would be to break down this full 60+ minutes in explicit detail it's also pointless to try and box the band in with categorization. Many moments on this album sound like Xiu Xiu, other points feel like old Swans, and in between there are folksier turns that feel like Panopticon. But the resulting full album listening experience is entirely Shearling, as in you wouldn't mistake it for anything else. 

That's right out of the gate as well as it grips you tight with thunderous drums and driving wiry guitars. That's followed by a vocal passage that sets up two motifs for the album. The first being queerness and how coming to terms with it both internally and externally can manifest in struggles of biblical proportions. The second motif is Idaho. Like, the state of Idaho. Not a joke I had to look up several regional references just to understand what was going on in this album as Idaho geography and folklore slip between biblical metaphor and existential queer angst. 

Let me list off a few of my favorite parts of the record, all of which are 100% serious I didn't make any of this up. Around 14 minutes, there's a sequence of quivering vocals belted out over an array of dissonant, bleeding horns that feels straight out of the Xiu Xiu book. A more directly Xiu Xiu inspired moment comes MUCH later after the midpoint lull with a frenetic moment that instantly reminded me of the track Girl With Basket Of Fruit. What follows is a long moment of building tension that erupts several times around things like the methodical repetition of hypothetical news headlines and the staggering biblical moment of Adam and Eve becoming aware of their own nudity. 

In the 25-minute range, there's a more reserved passage highlighted by banjo strumming and gentle vocals. The passage can't help but to dish out a jumpscare-style interruption of distortion, but when the intensity returns, it's one of the Swans-iest moments the album has to offer, soaked in this kind of degenerate bravado. Eventually, the record does come to its thematic climax around 51 minutes in, ushered in by what I think are literal tea kettles going off. It presents a truly harrowing sonic breakdown backed by a sonic palette so chaotic I won't even hazard a guess at what actual instruments were warped beyond recognition to create it. 

This album is fucking insane and I do not mean that as hyperbole. Even by the standards of challenging listens, hoe-scaring music if you will, Shearling is towering. Points on the record feel like deliberate attempts to turn listeners away, and for some, it will work. But the thematic investment alone was enough for me to see the record through, and I'm very glad I did. Motherfucker is a challenge worth indulging on not just for the endurance it elicits, but for the memorable moments it smashes into your head along the way. 8/10