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An open-minded rock record that relies on a wide array of familiar signifiers but never once sounds like it could have been recorded or released any earlier than it was.
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Parts and Labor have expanded their sonic palette with Receivers and with it may find some new fans who wouldn't have been able to tolerate the overwhelming stimulation of previous releases.
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It's hard to predict where they'll go from here when Receivers sounds as if they've stretched their favorite sonic ideas to the very brink of saturation--but no one could have guessed they'd take them quite this far.
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On first listen, it might not sound like an album that bears its teeth as much as Stay Afraid did. But after a while, the size of this album reveals itself to be something entirely new for the band.
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Melodies and vocals claim the foreground unchallenged, in major-key melodies that can sometimes chime like U2; the noise is still there, but it has moved to the fringes, as a stimulant and irritant rather than a barrier.
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Channeling the motorized grooves of Can and the industrial experiments of Throbbing Gristle, these Brooklynites deliver a chilling, post-apocalyptic concept album about failing to keep up with capitalism and technology.
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This semi-collective sound-making only adds to the expansiveness of the band’s gestures.
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The addition of Sarah Lipstate on guitar and tape clearly allowed for greater compositional freedom.
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Turn this one need up loud to fully appreciate it--it's hardly bedtime listening--but you might want to have a little sit down and gather your thoughts after listening to it through for the first time and then listen to it again.
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Receivers finds the band slowing down the tempo and more fully exploring the textures and nuances of its dense, multi-layered soundscapes.
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Uncut'Little Ones' is insanely jaunty, like somthing out of "Sesame Street" and one of the most enjoyable songs of the year. The rest of Receivers is equally buoyant. [Dec 20008, p.108]
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The WireIf the crackling electronic chaff of previous efforts seems less dominant this time around, it most likely because the group have learned to skillfully incorporate it into their increasingly accomplished and accessible songcraft. [Nov 2008, p.74]
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The album’s generative “concept” is as strange and incredible as its music.
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While Parts & Labor’s grinding wall of noise seems to invite this kind of egalitarianism, the experiment never seems gimmicky or extraneous. Instead, it becomes virtually impossible to distinguish what sounds do or do not belong. It all comes together in one glorious racket.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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jeffersonh.Nov 1, 2008Best punk record of 2008.