Obey

Stylistically eclectic, or maybe even chaotic, Obey is a sublime release, its melancholic moments offered grace and any ounce of frenzy more subtle than overt.

Each track is a garden, blooming with a collection of mystic flora.

If it wasn’t for the split feeling you get between the more rock-driven and explorative songs on the record, this album would certainly be a consistently mesmerizing listen.

A polymorphic record, which displays an affinity for the new wave and post-punk scene, but is keen on enhancing their core with further influences.

For all the studio/refinement talk above, the collection remains unrepentantly raw; some of the easy touchpoints/comparisons like Stereolab or Broadcast become a little too sterile to reach for, scuffed up with the grit of Berlin and Mexico City, and more than a little rock & roll attitude.

Regrouping after the departure of guitarist Amon Melgarejo, they maintain the economical expansiveness of their krautrock forbears, incorporating new instrumentation without fully abandoning their core strengths.

Exploded View have forgone the "first take is the best take" approach and refined their technique. On Obey, they've embraced things like overdubs and multi-instrumentalism to mostly thrilling results.

Clocking in at a nifty 38 minutes, Obey is a solid release, though it trails off near the end with tracks that are clearly less inspired than the others.

The album proves that Exploded View are at their best when they refuse to be constrained by reality, to listen to consensus or to obey, and instead, exist in the dazzling reverie of their collective dream.