Moderate Rock

This is brilliant. A heady mix of memorable melodies, hard-driving rhythms, soft focus soundscapes, feedback, thick swirls of darkness and glimmers of light, the second record from North Carolina quartet Jenny Besetzt is everything I want from indie rock. Opener ‘Authorless Speech’ sounds so warm and familiar that you’ll swear you’ve heard it before. It sounds like the best thing The National ever wrote or a lost Joy Division classic, but it’s blessed with novel magic too. ‘Black as the Night’ is post-punk meets country and western without once being terrible. And ‘Rabbit’ is a dreamy, slow-burning thing that rises and rises and rises forever. But really every track is outstanding. If you need further incentive to listen, the production here is deft and satisfying, and that cover art is cracking too. If there’s any justice in the world, this band will be absolutely massive.