Pop. 1280 - The Horror

Pop. 1280 are a relatively new noisy no-wave - and self proclaimed "cyberpunk" - band from New York, and this matters because one of my new favorite record labels, the very on the rise Sacred Bones Records, also hail from New York. In fact, Pop. 1280 are on that record label, and The Horror is their first long play release on that label.
The Horror is the sort of album that may catch you off guard, actually. My head was definitely spinning when opener "Burn the Worm" took the first few steps of the journey, and it didn't have me dizzied just because I had been listening to some extremely soft music just before.
Burn the Worm is abrasive. It's so loud that you might think to yourself that 1280 are a pretty messy band, but as you get further and further in you'll realize that these songs are technical. The songs are offset by electronic bass effects and melodies are often made by synthesizers. Everything about The Horror is mechanical in nature, and yet I can't help but feel as if I'm covered in dirt.
In fact, we've had this feeling before. Sort of. Do you remember it? It's actually called Filth, and it's a gem out of the early eighties by the legendary Michael Gira's Swans. The difference, however, is that Gira's voice has been taken out, replaced by someone younger and with more range, alongside electronic components, and, actually, somewhat less filthy lyrical subjects.
And because of these updates, The Horror might also tend to sound closer to a more modern Swans release - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky - instead of Filth. That it is constantly being compared to albums by the only popular no wave band is only a curse of the genre, however. Pop. 1280 stand well on their own, and their influences aren't nearly as strong as we might make them out to be. "Crime Time" and "Bodies in the Dunes" are entirely their own songs, entirely their own ideas. Damn good ones, at that.
I'm loving this album. It's the soundtrack to my afternoons, my jogs - though I don't dare try to sleep during it. It makes me dance and it makes me laugh and it makes me a bit disturbed. Top of my list so far.
Tier: 3 [Good Shit]
[sort of curious]