Concrete Vehicles from Vancouver, formerly known as Computer, started out as a duo before expanding – in keeping with their own ambitions – into a seven-piece collective, make math-rock that is both exquisitely beautiful and restlessly agitated, at times almost twitchy. In their cascades of noise and composition, this music sweeps everything along with it. Noise, jazz, post-punk – each permitted a few bars before Computer veer off in another direction.
Across the three and a half minutes of »The Picture« on their debut album Station On The Hill, these elements converge to exemplary effect. A synthesiser casts a rhythm into the room; an electric guitar drops a handful of chords before the drums seize control. »These things don’t come easy« drifts through the track like a mantra. Explosion. Saxophone. Escalation.
The band’s great achievement lies in never overwhelming the listener amid all this motion. Where similar strains of the genre can quickly become overly cerebral, Computer’s songs move in a charged state somewhere between turbulence and propulsion. This album ranks among the most compelling releases in amplified guitar music of the past 25 years: eight songs that shift listening habits – ambitious, and not least, driven by saxophone.
