by Ben Grigg
Holy Western Parallels' eponymous first full length album is the brainchild of Chicago's Steve Marek (Monobody), recorded with contributions from Monobody bandmates Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Collin Clauson, Conor Mackey (Lynyn), and Al Costis. Additionally, Marek welcomes in some fantastic vocal talent from Joshua Virtue, Davis, NIIKA, and V.V. Lightbody. Work on the record began during the first months of the pandemic. Clauson and Ogbonnaya are Marek’s roommates, so their additions to the record are a logical choice, especially given that they were all sealed in together.
If you’ve spent any time listening to Monobody, Holy Western Parallels will feel familiar. The songs are doused in smoothly flowing keyboard tones and warm, energetic bass lines that you can lay back into like an armchair. Songs like “Wrong Body” (the first true song on the record after the intro) are enjoyably disorienting in their complexity. As soon as Joshua Virtue starts rapping though, it becomes clear that this is a different universe than Monobody. Virtue raps over two songs. In both, he's strong out of the gate with a flow and style that compliments the dense syncopation, leaving everything in its right place. On “Arrival,” he lets his comical side show, describing Mothman abandoned by his friends and without a ride at O'Hare. To prove that the ride can get wilder, the song builds into a triumphant chorus with a spoken-word outro of armageddon over menacing 1980's synthesizers.
As you'd expect from Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, the drumming is tight, frenetic, and propulsive throughout the album. He shines in many of the instrumentals, where the focus is away from the vocal performances. Songs like “Miniscule 9” feel like a theme song for a sci-fi space-exploration TV series where humanity has resolved all but it's grittiest problems and it's revealed that the universal language of the cosmos is actually sick drumming, and not mathematics.
The vocal performances are brilliant throughout. Davis spits head-spinning rhymes on “Stigmata,” a down-tempo track that frees up space for him to throw in extra syllables, encouraging repeat listens to get the lyrics straight. His words touch on religion and black plight in America, adding an edge to the track. NIIKA's performance on “Mayfly” is beautiful, nestled comfortably within the dense bass lines and layered synthesizers, growing and waning in intensity as the song ebbs and flows. Halfway through the album, “Anchorage” somehow finds you in a country western bar with ethereal vocals provided by V.V. Lightbody. A mathy feel pervades, reminding you that this bar isn't filled with Miller Lite normies, falling out of their Ford F150s.
Like all of Marek's recent recorded work, the tones and grooves are tasty and the recording quality is excellent. The album is a dense and overflowing work, intentionally stepping forward despite its mass, consuming all until supernova on the penultimate track “Decoherence”. It's a powerful record which truly begs repeat listens.