13 & God – Own Your Ghost

As a seven-headed conglomerate comprised of two genre-pushing bands, 13 & God are admirably accessible and ego-free. Adam “Doseone” Drucker of Themselves keeps his scene-stealing vocal delivery succinct, stepping out altogether at times and even singing it straight at others. The recompense is the occasional, well-timed breakout of his galloping, head-spinning prose. It’s countered by bucolic vocals, acoustic guitars and glitch electronics from The Notwist, laying down some typically sublime cuts.

Album highlight Armored Scarves is indicative of what works best with this side-project, a rich tapestry of disparate vocal harmonies and staccato percussion that would fall apart with any attempt to study its constituent parts. At other times the delineations are clearer. It’s Own Sun will be pure Notwist to most ears, with follow-up Death Major much the same story for Themselves. No bad thing of course, and with 13 & God being touted as a bigger concern by both parties, Own Your Ghost should stand as a solid bedrock. [Darren Carle]