Arbor Labor Union – I Hear You

Grizzled riffs that – across nine sprawling tracks – deliberately shun any hint of sophistication, the debut from Georgia-based four-piece Arbor Labor Union is a curious beast (over and beyond the fact that they’ve previously released a long player under former name Pinecones).

As an exercise in grinding, guitar-driven repetition, I Hear You pootles along under its own steam, less concerned with melody as occupying the space, vocalist Bo Orr singing (or rather 'singing') with a monotone burr suggesting he's suffering from stomach cramps.

Yet however much interest the band either attempt to whip up or consciously ignore (and moments such as I Am You do foster a psychedelic undercurrent, just as Volume Peaks swims against fret-based interplay that’s never fully explored), as a whole the experience lacks the nuance and multiple textures required to make such guitar-centric endeavours a real delight.