Not Squares first came under my radar because of their label; Richter Collective. Alas Not Squares sound deviates slightly from the usual “Richter sound”, less abstract guitar and complex drums, more synth grooves and danceable beats. Comparisons are easier made to bands like Holy Fuck rather than label mates like Adebisi Shank (whose bassist Vinny produces this album) and Enemies. Their debut release Yeah Ok, comes from a varied schooling. Everywhere from Acid House to Dance-Punk features on this album. Despite this eclectic blend their music remains accessible and catchy.
The first track Release the Bees warms you up for the album ahead. It builds from a sequenced bass-line, adding cymbals and sampled screeches. The drums then come in, hi-hat heavy and speedy. The song breaks back to bare synths then the vocals come in cutting the tension before building it back into chaos. By the end of the song after breaking and building umpteen times, over the seven or so minutes. The song ends in chaos and tames back to it’s synth backbone.
De Na Na gets me nostalgia for the hay days of dance-punk and acts such as Death From Above 1979. The vocals are lo-fi and deep in the mix, with it’s dense with intricate layers. With each revisit you find another little detail that makes you grow fonder.
Smith & Carlos reveals the first utterance of a guitar on the album. The main riff is alike to the now defunct Marvin’s Revolt, but the synth differentiates the two. This track solidifies the dance-punk vibe with the same quick paced hi-hats and lo-fi vocals, which feature strongly on the rest of the album. When I first heard the bridge I thought to myself “I love this band”. It breaks down to one synth then bit-by-bit it grows and swells creating a rich, dense wall of sound. You lose yourself in it before the vocals grab you by the collar and pull you back, it’s bliss.
The strongest track is definitely Asylum. It’s extremely catchy. The guitar is bliss, the drum is upbeat with a playful cowbell and the lyrics are memorable. “I want to live in an asylum” and variations of it are repeated before the bridge which is essentially “oh oh oh oh etc” with drums, but as with the rest of the track it’s contagious. Even now while I sit here in a crowded DIT canteen writing this I can’t resist bobbing my head erratically about, unfortunately.
The album closes with 53. A seven minute and twenty-four second transformative epic. The song starts with a chill bass grove, mellow vocals and light guitar. Just about halfway through there is a shift in tempo and the song completely reshapes. It progresses and becomes analogous to antidotes era Foals. The vocals are erratic which mirrors the pace of the song. There’s a chorus of shouting, “They don’t know, you don’t know, we don’t know, they don’t know, I don’t know you don’t know, they don’t know” this is chanted against a punchy bassline in a beautifully rhythmic way.
The album throughout remains catchy, danceable and light but it is interspersed with more experimental tracks such as Ojas Para Volar. It’d be very easy to make a comparison to Animal Collective but Not Squares are a lot ballsier. The album is another triumph for Richter Collective, another triumph for Irish music and a very strong step forward for Not Squares. Not Squares play the button factory with Adebisi Shank the 20th of this month (Tickets). The album will be out the 27th and it’s launch will be in Bunatee Hall Belfast (Tickets)