Thank You - Mother's Nose [Vinyl]

Baltimore's Thank You return with the Mother's Nose 7", a constellation map of power and imagination from one of the most important acts on today's art-rock scene. The band's first 2012 release finds Thank You broadening their palette with vibraphone, mandolin, and acoustic guitar, and growing from trio to quartet with the addition of bassist Steve Santillan (who previously worked with Nicolaidis and Bouyoucas in the Monitor Records band More Dogs). "Mother's Nose" delivers a next-level articulation of the tension-and-release sound the group developed on 2011's album Golden Worry. It's an incandescent eruption of organized panic, propelled by shimmering guitars, churning rhythms, and esoteric chants. Yet as this A-side feels like the ultimate expression of Thank You's approach thus far, B-side "The Whale" situates our ears within a new orbit altogether. Here, opiated melodies float over beats more click than clamor, coalescing into an Eno-esque soundscape of harmonic waves and secret horizons.