Portland-based trio 31Knots has always been hard to categorize, even from its earliest days as a standard rock outfit. Channeling the more visceral side of the Cold War Kids – and perhaps frantic shadows of the Clash – the band mashes frenetic, semi-bluesy elements with driving post-punk anthems. The result is a somewhat operatic but entirely grim sound that defies labels and categorizations, despite some efforts to call it “post-rock” or even the peculiar-named “Math rock.” Worried Well pushes that envelope even further; their ninth release in eight years, the album adds piano, crushed synth, and a vast array of sounds seemingly borrowed from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser to craft a dark, lingering aura. Blunt but effective, Worried Well is 31Knots’ best album to date, chugging with uncertainty and gloom without forfeiting sonic clarity.
Much of the credit for 31Knots’ success must be given to co-founding member, lead vocalist, and guitarist Joe Haege, whose British-tinged singing style is a perfect match for the band’s despondent air. The previous reference to Thom Yorke is appropriate, considering Haege’s own efforts are perhaps a more masculine take on the Radiohead frontman’s signature seethe. Likewise, Worried Well often comes off as a more muscular version of Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief, bleeding with cavern reverb, degraded samples, and sharp guitar shuffles. Sauntering pianos and backing choirs join in from time to time, the album pivoting to and fro, tracks operating like well-placed thrusts of a sharpened knife.
“Certificate” blasts out the gate, sounding like the aforementioned Clash covering U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” With the strength of Haege’s cascading vocals come layer upon layer of growling guitar, racing and racing until a quaint piano concludes the chaos. “The Breaks” combines hysterical synth with a rolling bassline and drums, preferring a bare-bones alternative to evoke its anxiety, a well-worn theme on Worried Well. Standout track “Strange Kicks” marches like a troll, building up and then breaking down to the tune of a roughed-up piano, rife with handclaps and Haege’s spitting tongue. Strangled and afflicted, music bleeds out as if from a wound: “Worried But Not Well” is glass-shattering and yet squashed, boiling over at the start only to end in a simple vocal refrain. “Statistics and the Heart of Man” achieves a similar identity, beginning with the eerie pulse of organ and bass, shaping slowly into a psychedelic tumble of fretwork.
The result of all this is a foreboding but well-crafted record, saturated with angst without ever becoming some sort of screamo-inspired whine-fest. Things on Worried Well are irate but cool, managing to keep a barely-contained fury right beneath the surface – where listeners can still get a glimpse. And by the time audiences digest the nightmarish chiming of “Upping the Mandate,” there will be no doubt of 31Knots’ talent or musicianship. Trying to fit them into a neatly-packaged genre – well, that’s a different question altogether.
October 24, 2008
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