Battles at the Memorial Union Terrace
A mercurial band given to both the strictures of math-rock and the wonders of only partly controllable noise, Battles has grown big behind 2007’s Mirrored, which is a mesmeric album that sounds like it was downloaded from a BitTorrent site in the distant future. The mix of Mirrored draws in part from the group’s intriguing lineup; it includes two guys who played in Don Caballero and Helmet, as well as Tyondai Braxton, a sort of wandering mystic of aural processing. Braxton’s since moved on, taking his sometimes-intelligible vocals with him, but on this summer’s forthcoming Gloss Drops, the remaining trio finds suitable replacements in Gary Numan and DJ Matias Aguayo, particularly on the sugary jam “Ice Cream.”
Hot on the heels of the new, mind-shattering (slightly NSFW) video for “Ice Cream,” comes the announcement that Battles—along with The Fresh & Onlys—will eviscerate the Terrace on July 16. Get ready!
