polaroids of androids

I have never left a My Disco show disappointed. In fact, more often than not I have left with my jaw scraping along the ground, blown away by the precision and force at which the music was delivered. The Melbourne trio's previous record, Cancer, was a brilliant stab of pounding prog rock but failed to capture the often mind-blowing intensity of their live show, serving more as a way to fill in the time between their visits to our city. On Paradise they have somehow managed to capture a snippet of their live experience and bottle it into ten painfully precise tracks that burst into life with every twist and turn.

The record, which seems to have been perfectly 'underdone' by producer Steve Albini, opens with a fast paced metronome-like rhythmic thud. The track, simply entitled |, sets the tone for the rest of the album and the band's clear purpose - precision. For the most part they stay true to their introductory promise.

The repetitive commands drilled from Liam Andrews on You Came To Me Like A Cancer Lain Dormant Until It Blossomed Like A Rose compliment the relentless drum beat which features as the backbone of the record. The album really comes to life when the band successfully marries their mastered precision with rougher edges, such as with the standout track, / (yes, a backslash), which features fantastic spurts of strangled guitar jolts and painful feedback dancing all over a thunderous and consistent back line.

As with all of their work to date, the vocals take a backseat to the music. On this record there is even more of a minimal approach in the lyrics department and a large chunk of the songs offer little more than a handful of lines chanted repeatedly. This is in contrast to the preferable vocal arrangements they employed on some of their early work, such as Inhaler, where they laced more random strained shouting over what were essentially math rock instrumental tracks.

This is a fantastic record. Sure, it might not be exactly what you feel like listening to at every moment of the day, but when the mood is right it's an exhilarating forty minutes of music. You will need to give this album some time though. Don't be surprised if you find it all a bit frustrating and repetitive after the first couple of listens. When it finally hits you, and it will, it'll more than likely be the most joyous shock to your system delivered from a local act this year.