Great Ytene – Locus
Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with Great Ytene’s previous self-titled effort, because Locus might as well be the work of a different band. Previously existing somewhere within the realm of muddied flower-pop psychedelia, the south coast-formed four-piece trample any lingering blossom underfoot on an album that owes much more to the angular work of This Heat or, more contemporarily, Vietcong/Preoccupations. That latter comparison’s pretty hard to avoid, but it really doesn’t matter across nine bracingly taut exercises in post-punk mechanics, each brimming with an arresting urgency.
The album's true purple patch lies in the mid-section; George Street glides through the gears at pace, while the title track has more of a strut about it but eventually grinds itself into a dust of lyrical and guitar hook repetition. Wanness, meanwhile – possibly the finest track here – hits with a breathless, wiry muscularity. It’s perhaps convenient journalistic twaddle to suggest Great Ytene's loss of their initial recordings for this LP means that Locus feels desperate to get out of the traps, but there’s no denying the irresistible energy on show here.
Listen to: Wanness, Locus
<a href="http://greatytene.bandcamp.com/album/locus" data-mce-href="http://greatytene.bandcamp.com/album/locus">Locus by Great Ytene</a>