The first release on Kill Rock Stars' experimental imprint 5 Rue Christine,
the Replikants'
This Is Our Message is what happens when indie rockers -- in this case, Justin Trosper and Brandt Sandeno of the comparatively "normal"
Unwound -- discover the work of
John Cage and
Harry Partch. A collection of 24 widely varied slices of musique concrète experimentalism (only the first 13 are on the limited-edition vinyl),
This Is Our Message is opaque noise rock that succeeds or fails entirely upon the listener's interest in such things. Actually, as noise rock goes, it's really quite good, with a much better sense of structure and purpose than many more chaotic and random releases; songs like "Organ Transplant (We Want Miles)" actually have fairly traditional structures underneath the layers of feedback and tape manipulation, and the lengthy, slowly unfolding "8:36" (both its title and its length) is oddly beautiful.
Unwound fans should know what they're letting themselves in for, but
This Is Our Message is worth a listen for the adventurous. ~ Stewart Mason