DEAD HORSE

Got this a couple of weeks ago, and it's been enjoyable enough to garner many repeated listenings. The style is instrumental rock, centering on nimble rhythms, interlocking melodies, a jazzy sense of swing, and some lead saxophone. Nominally, such stuff is often called "Math Rock" in that it centers a lot on tricky rhythms and fugue-like instrumental passages, in much that same way as stuff like King Crimson's "Discipline". However, this stuff doesn't often stray from 4/4 or 6/8 time, though it does shift tempo and feel. It's a "groove" album, something you don't often associate with post-rock or math-rock, and this grooviness really helps its accessibility - it's meant to sound good first, and make you think second! And yet, it's very composed too -- not a "jam" album by any means. It's pretty complex, but it doesn't beat you over the head with its complexity. I certainly appreciate bands that can pull that off.