Four deep homies (all Oxtail alumni) combine their powers to serve up a double-duo tag-team of strength, honor, and deep-fried synth styles. The Delaware/New York love connection is strong with this one.
On Side A, Roped Off (Dave Doyen/Sound Out Light and Mike Haley/Wether) sets controls for the heart of the bong, merging heavy modular murk with strangled tape loops and rhythmic static. Building to a disorienting climax, “Roped Off Gets Trapped In A Room With A Leech” sounds exactly like two best friends trapped in a room with a leech - except they HATE leeches!!
Toasted Focus (Konrad Kamm/Glass Frog and Mike Nigro) responds in kind on their recorded debut. Kicking off in the middle of a dense arpeggiated churn, “God Bless” plays like a summer storm in reverse: the clouds slowly roll back, polyrhythmic minimalism emerges from the murk, and the side ends with synthetic birdsong and babbling brook.