My wife loved the pen that accompanied the latest Pen Test LP that she stole it from me. As penance for my greed at coveting the object myself, I ‘punished’ myself by listening to Interstate on repeat, searching for a stray though to connect a previous review to a new one. But I felt that would be wrong, because Interstate stands on its own. Not an easy feat when your head is swelled 20 minutes long with the titular track. It’s a hypnotic and not entirely too removed from the dreamlike stasis of the band’s recent 7-inch and yet it sounds like reveille. But where the head is heavy with deep thought, the album’s feet are locked in strident movement. The four quick steps post-“Interstate” are dancers. They unpin the wallflower, and force it into spastic candor. A band proving itself to be unafraid of deep thought and indulgent pleasure.
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