Out of the Ether

Writhing Squares have been conjuring up cosmic slop from the Philadelphia underground for a few years now,�mixing growling bass,�motorik�synthesis, and�skronking�sax into a heady brew of punk-laced progressive�R'n'R.�The duo of Daniel Provenzano & Kevin Nickles emerged in 2015 with their self-released "Gemini Blues" 7-nch,�following it up the next year with their debut album "In�The�Void Above" for the renowned�Siltbreeze�imprint. "Out of The Ether" is their sophomore effort, & first for Trouble�In�Mind.�The album consists of 5 tracks of minimal, droning ambience, overtaken at times by Nickles' wailing, sax�skronk;�a mixture of the soulful runs of The Stooges' Steve McKay & the no-wave stabs of James Chance - drum machine,�and Provenzano's guttural basslines that add an industrial menace to a locked-in groove and�lysergicly�introspective�lyrics. Album closer "A Whole New Jupiter" takes up all of the LP version's side two,�slingshotting�the listener over�the event horizon and thru the center of a sonically sculpted black hole, it's relentless�motorik�dirge evolving over the course of the track's 19-minute run time into an abstract pulse before lurching�back�into�the groove, riding it into the sun.