by Ben Grigg
Do you remember the kid from school who would doodle intricate shapes on their notebook cover all through class, ending the year with a dense, complex doddle that covered the entire notebook? This album is that notebook. Except in this case, the art is by a skilled illustrator instead of Samantha Rollins from freshman year health class (who admittedly could doodle a mean polygon). Crafted intermittently over the course of five years, Feedback & PB is a dense and complex work, flowing dizzyingly from hook to hook, interspersed with noise, found-recording style interludes, and madcap arpeggiating synths. I find myself struggling to convey in words what took Maxshh mastermind Max Goldstein five years to convey in audio. So it goes with album reviews, I will try my best.
This record is Willy Wonka's everlasting gobstopper. The hooks may be sweet or sour, but they change fast and are always complex and vivid. The effect is disorienting upon first listen. You find yourself as a robot digging a hole in the desert, riding a tasty post-rock hook, and sitting in on a deftly performed jazz sax solo over an 8-bit Nintendo theme worthy of Zelda, all in just one song. Repeat listens center you more in the universe, a world seemingly concocted in equal parts by a technically proficient Daniel Johnston and some sort of math rock Tim Taylor. The songs themselves range from honeyed acoustic numbers (Song for F) to three-and-a-half minute dirges of feedback and noise (Alignment). Somehow though, the album feels cohesive. It’s all of the same universe, albeit different corners.
Without getting too hyperbolic, I'm just going to come right out and say that I like this record a lot. Don't get me wrong, it's weird, but it's weird in all the right ways. It's challenging upon first listen, but immensely worth the investment in repeat visits. I’ve spun this thing maybe twenty times and I still haven't fully digested it. There's just that much here. It's a dense, wild ride with plenty to like.