An intrusion of desolate out-of-tune guitar and thin drum machine scratchings marks the start of
Kiss My Super Bowl Ring, the fourth full-length outing from bellicose art-punk siblings
Wyatt and
Fletcher Shears. As "Clench to Stay Awake" progresses, the album opener segues into a frenetic grunge/hardcore midsection before sloping back down to its dour conclusion. As
the Garden, the SoCal twin brothers spent the previous decade working their way up the lo-fi ladder from 2013's simplistic
The Life and Times of a Paperclip (
Burger Records) up through the wonky no wave of 2018's
Mirror Might Steal Your Charm (
Epitaph Records). Their jokey, absurdist style, which originally revolved around a spiky drums and bass mix, has grown to include a range of weird synths, guitars, and noise experimentation, though their instrumental palette still remains relatively spartan. On this release,
the Garden continue to branch out in their own distinctive way, exploring aggressive trap and electronic treatments while peppering their still-jokey approach with an overall darker tone. The hyper-aggressive "The Struggle" is a strangely complex track that highlights the brothers' skill as arrangers and players, while "A Fool's Expedition" feels quite harsh and desperate with occasional bright moments of triumph like the strange bamboo flute samples at the end that seem to come out of nowhere.
The Garden are definitely not for everyone, but repeated listens reveal more craft than they'd probably like to let on. ~ Timothy Monger
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