Talk Normal

Layering repetitious whispers and howls over jutting guitars and rattling drums, Talk Normal creates the kind of abusive, melody-eschewing sound that noiseniks dream about. The duo’s debut full-length, 2009’s Sugarland, recalls some barren, emotionally disconnected, no-wave version of The Kills buried in a guitar churn that’s pure Bad Moon Rising-era Sonic Youth. It sounds harsh, but even those who don’t worship static can find something accessible about it—like the entrancing vocal interplay between drummer Andrya Ambro and bassist-guitarist Sarah Register, or its thrilling cover of Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home A Heartache.”

Updated 03/11/2010