To Smithereens

It’s unsurprising and almost satisfying that the robot ear of Myspace’s media player had no suggestions for albums that are “similar to” Gay Beast’s new record, To Smithereens. Gay Beast’s mathematically chaotic sound has always challenged description, but its latest LP hits a level of complexity and depth that presents the ultimate description gauntlet, making this arguably its most exciting album to date.

Fans of Gay Beast have come to rely on the trio’s deftness for playing with time signatures, extended dissonance, and genre subversion. The new record takes each of those elements and ratchets them up to, if not 11, a solid 10, as if the group buried itself in a basement with its favorite records, smashed them all to pieces, and spent the next year piecing them back together to build the aptly named album. Daniel Luedtke’s vocals, for instance, almost performance-arty in their earnestness, range from dirge-like chants to soulful ballads, while percussionist/electronic maestra Angela Gerend and guitarist Isaac Rotto swap easily between playing their instruments with cool musicality (bebop to hardcore to lounge) and making them sound like nearly arrhythmic inanimate objects (Plinko machines and evacuation alarms). Even one of the more unassuming tracks on the record, “Poly ASX,” featuring Luedtke on asx—oops, we mean sax—sounds like a robot Pharoah Sanders stuck in the wheels of a train crossing the Mason-Dixon Line. Just when you think you’ve got Gay Beast’s number, the group pulls the rug out from under you and cuts it up.

The members of Gay Beast pride themselves on drawing inspiration from ideas and aesthetics that defy labeling: Their website describes their sound as “being both too weird for the stereotype of a ‘gay band’ and ‘too gay’ for the noise-rock set.” This record exhibits that pride to the max. To Smithereens is certainly not for the listener looking for an easy ride, but it will take you places.

Gay Beast celebrates the release of To Smithereens with a show at the 7th Street Entry on Friday, Jan. 21.