Battles Mirrored by: Al Cottrill Mon:06-Aug-07 Label: Warp Records Year: 2007 WB rating 86 out of 100

Battles are an intimidating band. A supergroup of sorts, their combined pedigree is nothing if not capable. Guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams and drummer John Stanier possess the most acclaimed work, with Philadelphian Math-rockers Don Caballero, and Helmet and Tomahawk respectively, while guitarist/bassist Don Konopka’s Lynx and guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Tyondai Braxton’s solo work both have their followers. But it is not their background that provokes their potency, as countless supergroups have shown, mating across pedigrees usually just bears a cross-bred bitch. Instead, Battles’ sheer power elicits this timidity, the thundering roll of Mirrored swells across the landscape like little before it, coursing, seething, pulsing; it is at once dissonant and compelling. Revelling in its unsteady time-signatures and electronic variations, it is impossible to categorise, though math-rock shares a love of those bastard fractured beats, 7/8, 11/8 and 13/8.

Mirrored is their debut album, the end product of a three EP journey that as a whole Battles described as ‘a band trying to find its sound’. With Mirrored they have found it, developed it, refined it and made it their own. EP’s Tras, C and B really did sound like unfinished searching, a gradual feeling out and touching of a style, scratching at the surface of a muddied gem. First single ‘Atlas’ is without a doubt a highlight. Stanier’s drumming is nothing if not the driving force of this band, and here it is at its finest, flawlessly locking in a driving beat that rocks and sways like a faltering spinning top. From here Braxton and Williams battle, throwing alternating keyboard lines at each other, with layered samples hissing amongst them. Struggling with its constraints as repetitive loops expand and increase in volume, it is free to break into its unexpected key changes, forming an eminently danceable electronic rock.

The vocals are a feature of Battles, one that differentiates them from their contemporaries. Just intangible enough to place them beyond ‘singing’, rapidly tapped “ohs” and “ahs” provide melody amongst the wall of sound. Filtered, looped and simulated into a twisted chipmunk artifice, they blur the line between voice and instrument. The growling speedway drone of ‘Ddiamondd’ is only a canvas for the machine gun delivery, inextricably entwined, the pitch-altered vocals exactly mirror the guitar lines and vice versa. The internally mirrored room of the ‘Atlas’ clip is the perfect analogy for this conceit (watch it and be converted), with Williams clipped samples reflected inside, eliciting call-and-response relays from Braxton, while Williams playing guitar in one hand and keys in the other while dancing is nothing short of extraordinary. This is the nuts and bolts of their sound, a perfect understanding of their respective roles within the band. It is evident in ‘Race:Out’s manic turn-taking riffs, but best embodied by the spastic flux of ‘Tij’, clipped beats of ‘Leyendecker’, and drum master-class of ‘Rainbow’. The latter is a writhing mass of sound that is somehow entirely coherent, where ‘Atlas’ excites due to its power and proximity to convention, ‘Rainbow’ is pure ability; amazing art from a sonic junkyard.

The technical proficiency of Battles’ members is its obvious strength. Each is a master at his instrument (and apart from Stanier, more than one), and their tightly calibrated sound allows them to flit amongst genres, tempos and time-signatures within songs without painful impetuousness. The schizophrenic ‘Tonto’ is a perfect example, opening with rapid guitar riffs, the addition of Stanier’s syncopated drums let it develop into a coursing groove. Somehow it builds to a ‘90’s guitar breakout before breaking down into blipping Asian-inspired keys that are the antithesis of its expected heading. Their music challenges accepted notions of rock, composed more like an orchestra, with each tiny part a separate entity recorded and performed on its own, similar in a sense to Braxton’s live-sampling solo work. Only Stanier’s drumming is entirely analogue, which on its own might be the most disturbing fact of all. Keeping time – a demanding and muscly one at that – Stanier is the puppet-master, flawlessly controlling tempo and time-signature. While the power of his thumping bass is palpable, it is his exquisite tom work that keeps multitude beats. With his crash cymbal nearly out of reach above his head, the crushing effect it does have when hit is electric.

There are few other bands in rock that so effectively use current technology to manipulate their sound and challenge popular conception. Battles’ innovation is achingly modern, and this new lithe sound is a curiosity, yet inescapably enjoyable. Their music is so far ahead of the curve as to have clear claim on inventing a new genre. But uniqueness alone does not alone beget praise. If a problem exists, it is that this ‘found’ sound is not yet perfect. There is still a sense that it is unfinished, and that obvious refinement awaits. The progression to this sound from their EP’s has seen it grow exponentially across the board, through tempo, power and intricacy. Like a teenage growth spurt, there is associated awkwardness. Although now coherent, parts do lapse into wank, lacking body in favour of airy noodling. But they are high aspirations, and minor criticisms. An ominous combination of rarity, unfamiliarity, intricacy and inscrutability has drawn near universal acclaim for Battles’ Mirrored. They have said that they are a band searching for their sound; there is not much looking left to do. An excellent debut.