U SCO

Treffpunkt

BY Lisa SookrajPublished Sep 12, 2014

6
On their second release, Portland's polyrhythmic avant-punks U SCO push their noisy pursuits further. The maturation of musicians with a heavier past usually equates to tamer and more melodic sounds, but U SCO, which features members from Duck. Little Brother, Duck! (Top Shelf Records), took the opposite route, creating an intense instrumental form of hardcore/prog/math rock.

You never know what you might find lurking around each pile of radioactive rubble in this apocalyptic musical junkyard. When not a full on ferocious assault, (like the album's spiralling opener "Took Chase"), Treffpunkt is a smorgasbord, never lingering too long on a sound as the tracks roll and blend into each other — the few somewhat melodic instances never last long on this unhinged, chaotic collection.

Amidst layered time signature changes and heavy guitar parts, occasional bursts of unexpected genres crop up, like the mellow jazziness of the David Lynch-ian "Tuskflower," complete with stand-up bass, cymbal work and guitar-squeal punctuation.

With a flagrant disregard for all things conventional, these aren't catchy songs. They're more likely to induce headaches, making Treffpunkt a perfect fit for noise-junky music geeks that can take its impressive technicality and gutsiness.
(New Atlantis Records)

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