by Elise Barbin (@elisecbarb)
Mush’s 3D Routine reads as a living credo for the contemporary slacker-class malaise. The Leeds foursome deftly balances personal with political, at the same time toeing the line between id-driven punk and a little headiness for good measure. Their debut LP on Memphis Industries is music for millennial drifters, art-rock nerds, and disillusioned leftists all alike.
Vocalist/guitarist Dan Hyndman yields a lispy sneer, striking feral against the trappings of late capitalism -- boomer Brexiteers, ever-looming debt, media manipulation, you name it. While his contemptuous delivery is nothing if not warranted, the frontman’s lyrics at times teeter upon unintelligible. In fact, the accented vox drowned down in the mix creates a subliminal messaging effect spoon fed via a digestible 46 minutes of jaunty guitar pop.
Right out of the gate, the record sounds like it could fall off the tracks. All the while steady, motorik drumming maintains necessary traction while paranoia-inflected tones repeat to the point of hypnosis. On “Existential Dread,” the band aptly slows to a more laconic, Pavement inspired chugalug. Their tangled guitar lines continue to snake along, escalating in energy until the nine minute “Alternate Facts” reaches a maximum threshold of kineticism and the album ends.
3D Routine solidly establishes Mush among the post-Parquet Courts progressive party-punk crowd, joining the ranks of BODEGA, Squid, and Public Practice, to list a few. While they’ve still got room to find their own sound, these young boy Brits are doing their part to make generational disaffection a little more bearable.