Multicult – “Position Remote” [Album Review]

Every now and then I am confronted with an album where I grimly realize, “Shit. I’m a sucker for this.” And from there it’s a struggle to remain objective while I gush over the innards of a band that’s spilling them for the world to see. Perhaps it’s the fact that Multicult includes members from one of the acts I grew up listening to, Fight Amp. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s in the same vein as Metz. Or it might be that it has a raw and elusive energy and sound that my favourite groups have captured, and which I continually try to chase. And in this band I’ve managed to find it again.

The secret to noise rock is that it needs to sound casual, almost chaotic, while also being executed with restraint and precision, by a group that are confident with the choices they take, and execute them with aplomb. Multicult achieve that in spades on their latest full-length, their fourth release since 2010. It’s a refreshing take on Steve Albini-esque delivery without use of the man himself.

Perhaps most exhilarating is the fact that the band makes this all seem effortless, coming from a trio of very talented musicians who are able to summon up memories of noise rock when it still wore the pigfuck moniker while also elaborating and innovating on that sound. While Metz focuses on expansive guitar tone to deliver heavy (and they do accomplish this, and have been doing so with great success for some time now), Multicult instead focus on the rhythm and percussive abilities, less involved with finding the right riff to ride the wave and more interested in churning up a variety of waves and skirting the tops. It’s an approach that could easily be experimental without creating an interesting result, but in this case the band’s album is one of the most exciting releases of the year.

Hey, stream the full album here, yo!:

Position Remote Track Listing:

01. Afterward
02. Fast Leaking Energy
03. Centroid
04. Festivus
05. Coxcomb
06. S Curve
07. Repeating Decimal
08. Tesseract
09. Bias
10. Landfill

Run Time: 31:50
Release Date: August 19, 2016
Record Label: