CHRONOPHAGE - Th’ Pig Kiss’d Album LP

Highly recommended.

Austin’s Chronophage are straddling genre lines with the hodgepodge confidence of the all-stars of late-night college radio circa ’86. They swerve between the amphetamine growl of Pere Ubu, the aloof allure of Kim Gordon, and the clangin’ twang of Meat Puppets with an ease that seems uncanny. They charge through the loose knit niches of Swell Maps at their most maligned and take a dirt bath in the discarded tape trails of Television Personalities. The record is a beast of many mantles, but they pull it off with a collage-core spirit that works as long as you don’t bend your brain too much trying to pin them down.

"Chronophage made a splash with their debut, appealing to both dirty and clean audiences of arty post-punk. Could’ve been a one-time planetary alignment, but Th’ Pig Kiss’d Album demonstrates that it wasn’t a stroke of luck – this scruffy group is clearly onto something special. These songs showcase a band even more at ease with each other, as there’s no other way these kind of songs can come together – the bassist, the guitarist, hell even the drummer all seem to be riffing around the main structure and melody continuously, finding ways to make their otherwise modest DIY-poptunes behave unexpectedly. I’m reminded of the way Television break their songs apart after like five minutes or so, except that seems to be Chronophage’s starting point. Even one of their more jagged numbers (“Any Junkyard Dreams”) has me thinking of my favorite songs by Shoes This High and Sara Goes Pop without directly resembling either. And while they’re clearly cool punks with asymmetrical haircuts, homemade t-shirts and post-ironic Ali Express dresses, there’s a tender vulnerability underlying these tunes, bearing witness to the sad fact that one relatively-minor car accident or illness could upend their world at a moment’s notice." - YGR