31 Knots
Worried Well
(Polyvinyl)
31Knots’ early releases were all about instrumentation. Joe Haege’s
intricate guitar riffs, matched with constantly climbing bass lines and
impeccable drumming, signaled a new incarnation of progressive
rock—one more introspective than extravagant, more indie rock
than intergalactic.
With the last few records, the band have slowly sloughed off complex
fret play in favor of theatrical, jaunty loops, with Haege often
abandoning his guitar in concert for a laptop, leaving him free to
execute flailing, dangling dance moves as he sings. Though the
theatrics are entertaining, the band remain at their best when they’re
pushing themselves technically rather than creating hypnotic carnival
jingles. Thankfully, Worried Well finds a comfortable middle
ground. “Strange Kicks” is built on a seesaw piano loop but never
becomes monotonous, breaking into guitar solos and stomping
chant-alongs; “Opaque” has a riff that would have fit nicely on the Yes
album Relayer. Standout cut “Compass Commands” finds the perfect
balance between the two, utilizing loops, scaling riffs, and a musical
break during which conductor Haege quizzes an all-female chorus on “The
universal rule of thumb: Kill or be killed.” Though generally cohesive
from song to song, there is one black sheep on the record, “Upping the
Mandate,” whose synthesized melody and beat would make more sense with
Pharrell on the mic than Haege.
The scope of Worried Well is wide but focused, a marked
improvement from their previous scatterbrained release, The Days and
Nights of Everything Anywhere. They are a band constantly
fine-tuning and reinventing their sound, but always creating songs that
may require several listens to fully grasp. Worried is well
worth the attention.
31 Knots play Wed Sep 10, Sunset Tavern, 9 pm, $7, 21+. With
sBACH, Capillary Action, and Quadrillion.