[rayword45]

Day 487: The Ugly Art by Machine Girl (Album Choice: DeciBel1231)

These songs frequently hit the border between dope af and lame af. I hate to use such a tired term, but A Song Called Clive Barker has brief spurts of "HELL YEAH!" followed by just... cringe shit. Congratulations is a bit better at mixing the kitsch into the heavy energy, that's a better, if still flawed, track. On the other hand, songs like This Is Your Face On Dogs, Psycho Signal Jammer and Fuck Your Guns are fun bursts of pure energy, marred only by the shitty lo-fi production. The last track is also pretty great but had no reason to be over 10 minutes.

Compared to the last album I tried by this band, their 2017 release which I didn't review because it shit the bed with boring bullshit after a great opening track (which, IMO, beats every track on this album), I'm finding that a lot of the tracks I like are what I assume are meant to be instrumental transitions. Loop Version is gloriously Fuck Buttonsy, NWOFKA Skullboy is some fun tech house and Where Were You... Well, it's not great because the vocal samples are kinda stupid but it's an interesting piece of ambient that I can't see making anyone wince.

Outside of those, it's hit-or-miss, albeit a lot more engaging than that 2017 release. Maybe I like this one better because it doesn't have such a contrast between highs and lows, I dunno whatever.

Best Track: Loop Version
Rating: 7/10