Motes

Who knew the mid-’90s Halifax indie rock explosion rocked this hard? Between the years 1995 and 1998, the arty, post-punk lovin’ indie rock quartet known as the Motes released two cassette-only EPs, a seven-inch single and a compilation contribution — 16 songs in all. All of them, plus five unreleased gems (some of them admittedly less fascinating or moving than others here) are collected on The Remains of False Starts, and holy shit have they held up well. This stuff might have been looking back at the early ’80s (and Pavement’s inescapable impact, especially on the surly slow jive of "Sirrah”) when it was first recorded, but man does it come off as being ahead of its time. The brief "Trellis II Tripod” is pure Deerhoof, all drum crunches and stop-starts, while brilliant standouts "Spindle Acre,” "181521520” (which features a refrain repeating "I want to be a robot”) and "Penman, Landed Pilot” are like a more subtle, indie rock version of Six Finger Satellite. Much like that ahead-of-their-time Sub Pop band, the Motes were sorely overlooked (or underexposed) in their era, but can now be enjoyed in light of the developments they so casually foresaw.