While the overwhelming majority of
Freeform's released work has involved a certain thumbing of nose and extending of tongue,
Simon Pyke's first release for Bobby Bird's (ex-
Higher Intelligence Agency's) Headphone label is surprisingly serious. More subdued than past releases such as
Elastic Speakers and
Prowl,
Pattern Tub is similarly intricate, trading brashness for subtlety, but maintaining the level of compositional complexity that carried his previous albums. While the closing track -- 15 minutes of mostly untreated traffic sounds gathered via
Pyke's bedroom window -- is an unfortunate cap to an otherwise excellent album, "Poundland" and "Monza Lecta" (the latter a duet with Bit-Tonic's Iris Garrelfs) are some of
Pyke's most original songs to date.