Polar Night Stress

The Polar Goldie Cats' songs on Polar Night Stress chug and clank like the noises composed for a cartoon factory ("Devastation") or the soundtrack for some freaked-out claymation flick ("L. Machina"). There are no lyrics in this twisting soundscape. Up-front drums evoke the industrial bang of large-scale equipment, while guitars play out the repetitive grind of comic book-colored machinery. It's an on-again, off-again affair with listeners in the center getting their brain wrecked into an automaton dream state. The irony of it is that the Polar Goldie Cats' sonic noodlings sound totally organic, like the best of millennial prog rock. But forget the grandiosity of their peers — the Polar Goldie Cats lack the pomp and circumstance of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and skyward revelations of Windy and Carl. Their focus on the minutiae of Cuppa and Rafe's dual guitar arrangements on "Debut" is reminiscent of Mogwai, but the elements of surprise are gone. "A Paw to Cry On" is the best song on the album, crossing a manic Sonic Youth thump-and-wail march with a Far Eastern burn. Polar Night Express is certainly unique and original, but for most listeners, the repetition on this record is more likely to rattle than revolutionize.