Beliefs, “Habitat”
Available: Now, via Outside Music/Hand Drawn Dracula Records as a digital download in various formats, cassette tape, compact disc, and vinyl. Limited-edition versions are available while supplies last on translucent red vinyl with a black, white, and red die-cut jacket
While I’ve mentioned this in the past, I do believe it is worth reiterating this week: I take a great deal of pleasure when a record is passed off to me by a band I’ve never heard. Heard of, but not heard. In this case, it isn’t a debut, but rather the third long-player from Toronto, Ontario’s Beliefs and follows a 2012 self-titled debut and a 2015 release called “Leapers.” Part of my excitement does lie in the eventual experience of going back to hear the pre-existing catalog.
I also believe that records can align nicely with the seasons. An assault on the senses. The smells, the tones, an overall aesthetic. Hell, even the artwork. Such is the case with “Habitat.” This album feels autumnal. Any time I listen to it, from here on out, I will consider this record with the fall. Jesse Crowe (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards) and Josh Korody (guitars, electronics, vocals, bass, microwave, and percussion) are joined by drummer Leon “LT Smash” Taheny (Austra, Death From Above 1979, Owen Pallett, etc.) on a record of electro-infused post-punk that is discordant, crisp, and cool, with a heavy, sometimes lethargic, pulse. Crowe’s vocals can be entrancing, but not for long, as you lean in closer to define the texture palette she and Korody create between them.
Recommended for fans of Portishead, Suuns, The Soft Moon, Preoccupations, Siouxsie and the Banshees, or My Bloody Valentine.
Jon E. Lynch[email protected]
