According to such notable magazines as Rolling Stone and GQ, the worst song of all time is Starship’s “We Built This City”, so one can only wonder what they would think of the title track which opens this album, played in the background in a twisted manner with plenty of menace in the foreground. Noisepoetnobdy is led by Casey Jones, who has spent a lot of time performing in underground venues, bars, art galleries, abandoned buildings, and illegal DIY spaces forever seeking to promote mental deprogramming through anti-commercial sonic immersion. Every set is a one-of-a-kind exchange of energy employing analogue electronics and improvised inspirations via speaker cones. In many ways Jones is a kindred spirit to David Brenner of Gridfailure, looking to broaden what people even consider to be music, yet approaching it in a very different way. Jones says, “This new collection is inspired by the pressures of modern urban survival and absurdist philosophy. In “This City”, arguably the worst hit song of the ‘80s melts like a popsicle on the summer sidewalk into a pool of psychedelic bubbling liquid…remnants of previous live performances are mashed into a churning machine that holds no regret. Stark hardware beats give context for interruptions of past experience. The search for order brings the individual into conflict with the universe.”

There is certainly conflict, and the album cover of a burned-out car relates closely to the sounds being produced on “Parking Garage”. Jones brings in more melody than Brenner, which in some ways makes it even more difficult to listen to as at times the results feel quite familiar while at others the experimentation takes them into areas which are more related to dance raves of the future where the beat is important but the sounds around it are harsh and fragmented. For my own tastes Jones does not push the boundaries enough, and the repeated loops take away somewhat from the rest of the layers, so the menace is not so extreme. However, I can see this being appreciated by those who wish to pursue music outside the mainstream without going too far into the dark side. Interesting while not being essential.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/noisepoetnobody
https://www.scryrecordings.com/