Battles

Don't ask

Battles: Be a bobblehead.
Battles: Be a bobblehead.

No calendar year is complete without at least a handful of insurgent, crit-consensus staples that can't quite win over the populace. M.I.A, Strokes, Liz Phair — we're waving sadly back at you from a future where even Maroon 5's label status is uncertain. Among 2007's more deserving memes is Battles, the zany, four-headed demon spawn of former Lynx, Don Caballero, and Helmet members. Mirrored, the band's debut full-length, suggests what Tortoise might produce were that group locked in a dungeon and forced to power through eight-bit Mega Man marathons while subsisting solely on a diet of Jolt and 'shrooms. On Oompa-Loompa math-stomper "Atlas," a melody-bearing Lilliputian mob — actually the voice of singer/guitarist Tyondai Braxton, neutered and splintered — chants incomprehensibly along with some unholy percussive union of a beatboxed grunt, John Stanier's pounding drums, and the slap-crack of handclaps. "Bad Trails" marries post rock's matte-black surfaces to Animal Collective's tribalist cheer, while "TIJ" seamlessly shifts from hyperventilating whumps to cartoon car-chase soundtrack. Battles' breathlessly whirlybird churn can momentarily turn anyone within range into a living, bug-eyed bobblehead, which explains (and reinforces) all the hype they're attracting.

 
My Voice Nation Help
0 comments
Sort: Newest | Oldest
 

Concert Calendar

  • May
  • Sun
    19
  • Mon
    20
  • Tue
    21
  • Wed
    22
  • Thu
    23
  • Fri
    24
  • Sat
    25
Phoenix Event Tickets
©2013 Phoenix New Times, LLC, All rights reserved.
Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places Phoenix

    Voice Places

    Find everything you're looking for in your city

  • Happy Hour App

    Happy Hour App

    Find the best happy hour deals in your city

  • Daily Deals

    Daily Deals

    Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city