Association Area

Toronto's premier purveyors of perversely precise prog-metal power pop return after a three-year recording hiatus with their first full-length record. Pared down to a four-piece, after the loss of a second bassist, the AA sound is as tight and dynamic as ever. Building on the musical momentum established with their Tundra seven-inch and Stop Motion Hasbeen EP, the band has settled on a schizophrenic blend of improvisational jazz theories, screeching, chaotic rock aesthetics and beat generation stream of consciousness lyrics. The net result of this confluence of high art and high anxiety is a cutting edge record that should firmly establish Association Area as one of the world's premier new metal bands. Comparisons to the Dillinger Escape Plan, the Victims Family and Jesus Lizard would not be unwarranted, but to stop there would be to sell them short. They incorporate so many elements of so many styles that it would be impossible to pigeonhole them. All you can really say is that Association Area may be one of the few bands around that actually doesn't give a shit about playing music that makes sense to anyone but themselves, and isn't that how all great and enduring art starts out?