Bleeding Moon

With the 2013 album Hypertension, then-Nashville-based punk Seth Sutton took his lo-fi one-man band Useless Eaters out of the bedroom and into the studio, upping the production values at the same time he took a turn from sharp, acidic punk rock into a slightly more new wave sound. More than moving in a decidedly different direction, the studio sheen just highlighted how weird Sutton's sound was becoming, with his post-Jay Reatard punk moving into territory inspired by the jagged experimental punk of early Devo and post-punk acts like Swell Maps and Gang of Four. Fifth full-length Bleeding Moon follows the trend set on Hypertension somewhat. Sutton moved to San Francisco and expanded Useless Eaters to include guitarist Byron Blum, bassist Brendan Hagarty, and drummer Miles Luttrell. The raw production and wild sweeps of psychedelia that run throughout the album keep it sounding just as alien and broken as when Sutton was making all the sounds himself, but there's something a little bit more alive about the interplay between the boxy drum fills and anxious riffs on standout track "American Cars." Of course, before the punky, driving song reaches its end, the entire mix is dipped into an overwhelming bath of phaser and wailing synth, taking it even further away from the sound of a band playing in a studio. The one-chord intro of "Out in the Night" also shows off the band's recent embrace of grooves in its caustic punk sound, and "Sitting on the Fault Line" throws in some of the same surfy rhythms that appeared sparingly on previous albums, ending up sounding like the trashiest demo from an unheard band of the early L.A. punk scene. With some of the best tunes Sutton has managed so far and some truly otherworldly production choices, Bleeding Moon sees the Useless Eaters project growing stranger as it grows stronger.