Chung Antique – Artesian Swell​/​Norse Code (2016)

Chung Antique’s new release Artesian Swell​/​Norse Code entices with rhythmic impulse and melodic permutations. On this follow-up to full-length Sweater Weather, they embodying the spirit of the west-coast math-punk underground, by way of Minneapolis-tinged ’90s alt-riffs, weaving and swerving their way into a fresh take on a changing form.

‘Artesian Swell’ plays with variations; rhythmic and melodic permutations are interwoven amidst the veer and verve to be expected from this exceptional trio. Dreaminess builds to explosive fuzz, back to rhythmic loops and circular themes. The efficient yet joyful precision of beats that seem to emanate from the hands of a seasoned jazz drummer buzz beneath the progressive cycles of fuzzed-out guitar over churning bass lines, culminating in decisive and substantial grooves.
Building from melodic swell to stormy crest, ‘Norse Code’ churns and chugs along. Charlie’s guitar meanders meaningfully, on a pedal-hopping journey, sometimes clean, sometimes fuzzed out, a pedal-quest augmented by Mike’s intricate yet driving bass, which in turn rumbles underneath the sea of Whitney’s flexed and dynamic percussive lines.

Chung Antique create a world of their own, a colourful patchwork soundscape of sonic threads, Tightly timed change-ups, multilayered guitar tones and idiosyncratic basslines result in an intelligent, cohesive whole, as comfortable as an autumn sweater during the best math-rock sweater weather.