BATTLES

With pounding drum patterns driving intricate layers of guitar and keyboards, Battles, Warp records most exciting signing in years, make thir Irish debut. Comprising of Ian Williams (Don Caballero), John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk), Dave Konopka (Lynx) and Tyondai Braxton (Prefuse 73 collaborator and notorious avant-jazz solo musician) Battles have created a genre all of their own.

In Don Caballero, Ian Williams examined King Crimson through a gargantuan math rock microscope. In Helmet, John Stanier crafted a soaring post-grunge power surge. In Battles, along with Dave Konopka and electronic maverick Tyondai Braxton, sporadic concrete interludes are sandwiched by glorious slabs of polyrhythmic insistence. A brief moment might suggest Bitch Magnet tackling Beefheart, and then the music belches gratuitously before flying off again in impossible combinations. Over 5 EPs on a range of US indie micro-labels, Battles display their transcendent compositional athleticism and assurance, the essential sonic dexterity of each member perfected in previous musical lives. Lauded across the States for their live prowess, Battles European live shows are gathering momentum.