By: Maarten van der Woude
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There’s a lot of people in my area that don’t know Math-rock, and when I introduce them to the genre, it’s usually Alright the Captain that makes people instantly fan of the genre. One of my favourite EP’s of all time, Alright the Captain’s ‘Conversational Skills for the Socially Anxious’, is now followed up by their latest album ‘Contact Fix’.
Starting with a drum break, synths and guitars, the first track of the album, ‘Toaster Mouse’, opens the album in a great, energetic way. The variation in this track is sublime, as its calm riffs kindly introduce the heavier ones. The track end in an explosion of energy, which keeps amazing me every time.
‘Baltirific’, starts with a sample that puts a smile on my face every time I listen to this track. Right after the sample, a dark 7/8 8/8 riff kicks in and gets heavier every 4 bars. Smoothly evolving to a great piece with high guitars and synth bass, the drums are magnificent as always. When a ‘typical ATC-sounding’ riff is played it reminds me a lot of their earlier work.
‘Hbt’ is the third and maybe most accessable track on the album. The synths in this track are absolutely great. There’s some strange but amazing riffs in this track that will keep you both headbanging and counting beats.
Track four, ‘Eagle Hands’, starts with a riff in 6/8 and works its way to a similar riff, played a little heavier. After a break and a very fitting sample a new riff slowly builds up. The synth is the build-up is as great as in the other tracks. The sounds on the guitars are very well-picked and have the great ATC-sound I like so much. After the build-up it’s counting beats again, with an amazing riff that keeps changing time signatures.
The next track, ‘Ben and Barbara’, was released before the album and was great to introduce either fans of the band and newcomers to the genre to the force that is ATC. The BPM in this track is not amazingly high, but the amount of notes they fit in a bar definitely is. The way the samples are placed is just great, and sounds like it’s used as an actual instrument.
‘I’m Not Smart, I Don’t Have All That Book Learning Stuff’ is the sixth track on the album. It’s amazing that a band can sound so brand new, and yet stay true to the roots of all their previous work. The track starts in 6/8 and includes a very badass Bass riff. The other riffs in this track are pretty heavy and this might be the most evil-sounding track on the album.
Knowing that this is the last track on the album, whereafter I obviously play the album again, you can hear that it is the perfect track to close your album with. In the first half of the track, the great combination of digital and analogue sounds make this track very unique, for both the band and the genre. In the second half, the combination continues, but in a heavier, even more old ATC-sounding way. A riff, basically consisting of only G# and A, makes this track end in a evil-sounding, heavy way.
In all, an album that should delight old fans and win plenty of new ones.
