Chronophage ‎– Th' Pig Kiss'd Album ‎

European pressing of the Austin trio's second record of SST-spirited herky-jerky seasick punk rock n roll, which has rightfully appeared in a few of the more respectable end of year round ups i've seen. Curiously, this version of the record, released on Lewsberg's Soft Office imprint, has a different running order to its US counterpart, the reason and value for which escapes me, though it does speak quite clearly for the innate wrongheaded-ness that seems to drive the band's music. To their infinite credit, this also makes Chronophage somewhat tricky to pin down. Hyper-melodic in an almost C86 kind of way (ala Swell Maps or Bogshed ala post-Fall indie) but also wired, elastic band taut, songs stretching into spaces you'd maybe not expect them to go, before springing back to where they started, sort of like an indiepop-shaped Pylon or, better still, Minutemen. It's impressive to somehow sound both this sharp and lackadaisical. It might be the most quintessentially and definitively classic 'indie' record i've heard all year. A true compliment.