by Jean-Michel Lacombe (@lacombe_jm)
Dendrons are a Chicago five-piece who make spindly, propulsive post-punk that doesn't shy away from a bit of brawny catharsis. "Wait in Line," the second single from the band's upcoming sophomore album 5-3-8 - their first for Los Angeles label Innovative Leisure - mines the rich vein of krautrock to catchy and dynamic effect.
Static-y barbs of guitar come in and out of focus as the song builds toward its Neu!-influenced motorik pulse. Once the drums lock in, a throbbing, insistent bass line pushes the song towards infinity, guitars and keys trilling at the edge of the frame, occasionally coalescing into a gleaming melodic refrain. Vocalist Dane Jarvie switches back and forth between a memorable, sing-song cadence and deadpan spoken-word with a hint of agitated menace, glibly intoning "And we'll all get together and get along and... go back to normal. And all is well, for some of us."
Speaking about the single, Jarvie says: "The song is influenced by “The Lottery in Babylon,” a short story by the magical realism author, Jorge Luis Borges. Dealing with the role that chance supposedly plays in life, and a political and socio-economic system that operates and revolves around that variable as dogma, followed by its subsequent corruption of it. In many ways, it is a criticism of the human tendency to claim dominion of nature and capitalize on it anyway."
The song is accompanied by a psychedelic, hypnotic animated video from Rapapawn Studio’s Óscar Raña and Cynthia Alfonso. It features grainy, primary-colored shapes and graphs that look like they were produced by 70s-era scientific equipment, bleeding into each other in an LSD smear that matches the song's every surge. You can find it below.
5-3-8, due August 26, was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas and Highland Recording studio in Phoenix, Arizona. The album was produced by Tony Brant and Sonny Di Perri (Protomartyr, DIIV, Nine Inch Nails).