Originally self-released in 2005, this southern Indiana trio of men named Mike (Hoggatt, Notaro, Bridavsky) mines an '80s post-punk tradition of angular riffs, fractured rhythms, and a fierce, clipped attack that sometimes breaks time, combined with '90s jagged math rock's unpredictable turns. It's all defying ardent writerly attempts to categorize (there's even brief reggae). With little to do in nowhereville flyover territory, these Hoosiers clutch the chassis of songs they hear -- like taking
Jonathan Richman's
Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" and pairing it with the hoary 1958 spiritual hit "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" (a number three R&B smash for 13-year-old
Laurie London, and then a number 67 for
Mahalia Jackson) -- and then put totally different frames on them. Idiosyncratic to the max. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover