Over the course of their nine-year career, Tenement have certainly proven themselves, only honing their sound more acutely with the announcement of a new LP, Predatory Headlights. The Wisconsin trio spent three years writing the record (subsequently demolishing the house and studio in which it was created, as a means to leave everything behind), extracting from a plethora of life experiences, both negative and positive, along with a slew of influences, highlighted in the fullness of tone and rhythmic complexities of their first single, “Dull Joy”.
A curious, infectious beat starts out the track, phasing from what sounds like the hollowness of playing a record at the wrong speed, into the fruition of full hi-fi, out of which the entire song will play. Guitar, accompanied by lightly fuzzed bass, incite a simplistic and incredibly poppy hook, fluctuating up and down in a kind of reverse waltz, and opening a coasting floor for vocal harmonies. The track sings almost like a masterful Sinatra ballad, but its instruments smash any notion of quietude, juxtaposing beauties, and originating punk ideas all over again, if only for the Midwest.
Predatory Headlights is out June 2 on Don Giovanni Records.
