There's a lot of promise in
The Screw-Loose Entertainment, but not enough payoff. It begins beautifully, with droning, humming squawls of indiscernible electric Somethings; these scream, twist, soar, dip, and swoop, gradually coalescing into a wall of noise. It's fascinating to listen to, but you know it must be building to something else -- and it doesn't feel quite "musical" enough for so precise an arrangement. But what form will this distant payoff take?
Why, it's a guitar and a drum kit playing post rock. Surprise!
For opener "Solaris", this actually works marvelously well, though the song's huge dynamic shift from droning machinery to post rock noodling may build false hope. "Komar", which follows, is similarly interesting, but by now it's very clear that the album will never reach its distant climax.
This is hard to explain. Pieces are missing. The guitars are really busy, but they don't seem to be going anywhere. The drums are out of place, used as accents rather than a driving force. The song structure quickly becomes repetitive -- fast, jerky guitars go and go and go and go and go and go. Sometimes there are electronic accents, but they'll only make you yearn for those compelling opening moments, when the album really seemed to be going somewhere.
By "Kategeriin", it's clear that The Screw-Loose Entertainment has lost its way. No amount of incoming Middle Eastern twang ("Arabia") can save it from its fate. It's still pretty cool to listen to, but the purpose is lost. All that it's doing now is digging more deeply into its own pigeonhole.
