On 375 Images of Angels, recently released by Iron Lung Records, Los Angeles trio Behavior seem out to investigate how much tinkering punk’s musical conventions can withstand, though without capitulating to the codified inclinations grouped as post-punk. Opener “Dry Swift Horse” begins with a drum vamp evocative of Todd Trainer’s errant thwacks on Shellac tracks such as “The End of Radio“, and, beyond the familiar surge and churn of “78” and “–“, the instrumental “North” is all harmonic clang and spare percussion. “For Contempt”, meanwhile, begins like a Rolling Stones ballad and ends like a factory. Behavior are a trio and 375 Images of Angels sounds like it, capturing the distinct tones and performances of three players in a room, with minimal perceptible overdubs, whose inquisitive faculties are bound to alienate segments of their audience: at at least one recent gig, the music seemed to confuse and repel a significant portion of the punks in attendance. Others rushed home to listen by themselves, with fewer distractions.
