The PhiLL(er)



Polemics Cover
31Knots

Polemics
Polyvinyl Record Co.

31Knots offer up 5 tracks of their particular style of prog-rock on this one. You can look at some swell pictures of them rocking out live elsewhere on the PhiLL(er) website. The band have been together for a long, long time now—or at least the two core members, Joe Haege and Jay Winebrenner, have been together for a long time. This band has seen almost as many drummers as Spinal Tap and in its earliest incarnation sported another guitarist (and songwriter—you guess why that didn't last). Anyway, the profit of having two core members who seem to share a particular vision means that 31Knots have happily evolved from an exuberant and noisy and somewhat trashy (albeit monkeying with time changes even then) sound on their earliest 7" releases (a particular favorite of mine was the song "Cooleen", which I remain convinced in the absence of evidence to the contrary is an homage to the sister of a girl from my graduating class in high school) into the no less exuberant but infinitely more polished, varied and musically ambitious Polemics EP you have reviewed in front of you. More than a little studio time went into the production of this record, which ranges in style from Rufus Wainwright to Black Sabbath, sometimes in the space of a single song, without ever sounding remotely incoherent. Joe Haege's vocal work seems to extend its technical complexity and quality with each new release, and so it is here again. The record starts with a 49-second experiment in a capella harmonies and electronic humming. "Sedition's Wish" is a prog-rock medieval minstrel song calling for revolution. And although that sounds stupid, it's really good. "Vanish" juxtaposes a chugging and ornate acoustic guitar riff against some electronic buzzing and snapping and a terrific percussion performance focused on the snare drum. "Black Ship Auction" is the aforementioned Rufus-meets-Ozzy number, although that description sells it short, because there's also xylophones and vibes playing alongside and in between some of those Sabbath-ish guitars. "Endless Days" is a rumbling, hushed, haunting piece that rises and falls within a restricted, maybe even constricted range, to provide an intense complement to the short opening track and a solid ending to the record.