ALBUM REVIEW: A Paucity Of Instinct – Matterhurt
“Yet another completely unknown alternative math-rock band that makes very weird music!” Despite being exactly that, upon listening to their debut album A Paucity Of Instinct you can’t help but feel that MATTERHURT undersold themselves. It’s much more than being just weird – math-rock itself is much more than just weird, it should be wrong and by all other logic shouldn’t work at all. But, it does.
If nothing else A Paucity Of Instinct is a fun listen, MATTERHURT drift into the bends of different genres, recruiting them along the way to warp them into a math bent shape. Opener Hunch greets with a down and out guitar melody before soon turning into something more assertive. Good math rock should be dysfunctional to the point that it rattles the brain against the inside of the skull inducing uncontrollable laughter — maybe some minor concussions.
Half of A Paucity Of Instinct feels well cemented in the direction of misdirection with its mathy signatures but at times it finds itself overly comfortable and situated in typical melody and structures. But when they find the sweet spot of embracing the ensuing chaos, MATTERHURT shines like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The Fascinator and Get Bangalored both bring out that cagey goodness from the band, where anxiety and disorder meet rousing speeds in a battle of attrition. Whereas opener Hunch and following track Crestfallen don’t set the album up for that level of disarray, they’re solid in their own right but lean on more anthemic blocks.
MATTERHURT should be fully committed to spinning out of their drift and wrecking their car into a mess of snarling arrangements; a band so fresh releasing their debut so nonchalantly and going nothing short of feral is what makes people take a second glance. Unfortunately some moments feel sluggish, even on the best tracks that are jaw-droppingly jarring; Horse Course plays around with different vocal textures that jab in and out but has gaps that are empty compared to its surroundings.
A Paucity Of Instinct hinges on impulsivity, inconsistency and indecision — its biggest strength and weakness, making it either genius or deplorable. Given the context, it’s nothing short of doing about as much as it can to be considered a great record. There isn’t a moment where you don’t know what’s coming next or aren’t begging for a specific hook to come back around, shake you down for all that your worth and leave you with nothing but a smile upon your face.
Rating: 7/10
A Paucity Of Instinct is out now via self-release.
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