by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Patois Counselors have been doing their thing for nearly a decade, expanding their collective mentality along the way, creating heartland tinged post-punk while continuously bending expectations. There’s plenty going on within their sonic blueprint, as the seven piece band construct layered arrangements that toe the line between lush abrasion and hazy swoon. It’s a magic trick balancing noise and nuance the way they do, captured in splendid effect on their upcoming third album, Limited Sphere, due out October 24th via Ever/Never Records (Workers Comp. Rider/Horse, Stylianos Ou). With soft melodies and focused lyrical ease, Bo White and co. make the inhabitable sound hospitable. Much like Protomartyr or The Bad Seeds before them, Patois Counselors reside in the middle of the serene and the immediate, Limited Sphere as gorgeous as it is disarming.
Having recently shared shuffling lead single “Fit Habit” together with the upcoming record’s announcement, Patois Counselors slink back into a deep groove on “Marge Attack,” a retro-futurist post-punk song that’s heavy on jazzy lounge charm and a brilliantly loose rhythm section that dazzles in their elastic pocket. As the band ripples like pebbles being skipped across a glassy lake, the tension contorts together with the density, picking up one moment and resolving the next, moving in unexpected swirls that pulsate with a gorgeous attention to detail. Everything is well in its place, but that doesn’t stop the band from adopting a ramshackle feel to it all. Patois Counselors reward close listening, and “Marge Attack” is a reminder that they’re at their best when everything seems as though it could fall apart at any moment.