Suuns – Zeroes QC

Zeroes QC is the first full-length from Montreal kraut-prog quartet Suuns, and they’re already out exploring infrequently charted waters. When entering the studio, the band reportedly wanted to avoid anything that might be tagged simply as ‘indie-rock’, a mission they’ve accomplished with conviction. There are similarities in scope to Battles’ Mirrored, another debut that felt like the product of a much older band operating with the hindsight of decades spent engaged in studio experiments.

A motorik beat underpins most tracks, with hints of Clinic on Up Past the Nursery’s sinister groove, but elsewhere they’re operating more singularly. The opening Armed For Peace ticks along 'til thick guitars crunch in and upend the mix, while Marauder resembles Rage Against the Machine if designed and performed by an actual machine; mechanical and prone to eye-opening direction-changes, a description both apt and yet utterly inadequate in attempting to summarise this startlingly assured calling card. [Chris Buckle]