Half Human Shape Language LP
Third full-length from the Brooklyn-based trio HALF HUMAN. Experimental, angular, and dissonant might take a crack at describing the rhythms and riffs within Shape Language, while bolstering a full-force sound. Nothing about this is sparse or bare: bass lines run a marathon up and down the fretboard, the guitar incessantly jabs and gets hung up on odd notes, the drums kerrattle and slap across the kit in an industrial fashion, vocals find a melody hanging in the balance, somehow shouting for order. These ten tracks feel like a chaos incantation. First blush with this busy, disparate, noisy thing didn’t land well with me, but listening through a few times, I came to appreciate the sonic mess as a whole, each element clamoring for attention, shuffling and weaseling around one another. A rollicking, atonal, post-hardcore love letter. For a good taste, check out “Hiccup.”