Pirámides

Presentes Oblicuos

With all the resources the band is using, the result could have been a convoluted album; fortunately, Presentes Oblicuos is not an incomprehensible, directionless mess trying to pass off as abstract.

From time to time, a few artists will leave a message on our social media with the intention of sharing their music with us. As a self-proclaimed musicophile, it is quite heartwarming to receive such messages even if sporadically, and while we haven't formally featured most of those requests since we have a "only review full albums, not singles" policy (don't let that keep you from sharing your music!), we do take the time to listen to all the material we're sent. In this case, it wasn't the band, but one of our few followers that recommended this album to us, which is also really cool. We must be doing something right. Thank you, good person!

I've heard of Pirámides before, but never got around to listen to them, although I was aware of their importance. The Monterrey band has been highly regarded as an excellent psychedelic project, but, upon doing my research, I found that, at their most accessible, they do have that synth-poppy Tame Impala-ish sound that keeps popping up in Mexican indie bands. It would have killed the deal for me if it weren't for their noticeable commitment to constant evolution, which has reached a higher, stronger stage with this release (is there a pyramid-based Pokémon so I can make a nerdy reference? Not yet? Oh, well).

According to the liner notes, a great deal of non-musical instruments were used along the more usual setup of guitars, drums and bass; the group even goes as far as to list clocks into the mix. Yes. Clocks. Naturally, when I first read everything that came into play, I imagined a band aiming to blatantly use a bunch of different techniques and tools just to show off their new experimental edge (that, and I also thought every song would sound like the intro to Pink Floyd’s “Time”). Fortunately, Presentes Oblicuos is not an incomprehensible, directionless mess that's trying to pass off as abstract.

Pirámides former, poppier self is entirely diluted and now the pieces are scattered among grainy and vaporous textures, tick-tocking rhythms and unintelligible vocal melodies. All these elements feel like thorn photographs that have been sprinkled all over the floor; we get glimpses of recognizable shapes but they quickly blur into oblivion as soon as they start becoming too familiar. If there's one thing Pirámides achieved quite well on this album, is the creation of a new, more layered, persona. Though they might not be breaking the mold in the grand scheme of things, they are breaking the one that used to limit their own scope.

The philosophical stance conveyed in the album's concept justification may cause the band to roll their eyes at the idea of being compared to mainstream experimentalists like Animal Collective or Radiohead (specially when the influence on their previous work can also be traced back to those bands), but, hey, that's what "Seré Velocidad" reminded me of, with its motorik rhythm, playful -yet distant- vocal melodies deformed by the use of effects, and shapeless electronic ambiance. This is one of those instances in which the stylistic familiarity may decrease any sign of something more inherent to the band, but the addition of a manic shrieking sax line managed to salvage some uniqueness out of the Hallogallo worship.

With all the resources the band is using, the result could have been a convoluted mess of looping feedback crashing against fuzz-bathed electric instrumentation and cyclical rhythms all going nowhere, but the improvisations have purpose and a resolution. The clocks could have been a mere gimmick, forcefully trying to beat us over the head with their conceptual importance, but they remain cleverly buried in the mix, only reaffirming their presence when needed. One of the most impressive features this album has going for it, is how well measured everything is.

“Posnatural” is the album’s pièce de résistance, mainly because it showcases the band’s ability to fuse an endless array of ingredients into a cohesive flow. All the aforementioned elements that shouldn’t have worked, mesh together into a groove ridden mini epic that feels meticulously put together more than it feels improvised. This is actually a constant throughout the album, but “Posnatural” just displays it better because of all the details it has.

Presentes Oblicuos treats the listener to a multi-textured, multi-layered and stylistically rich experience that becomes more abstract as it progresses, and the transition feels natural, even as we enter a Warp-like dimension in "Valores Aleatorios", and then are thrown into a Sub Rosa-worthy droning tribal cut (the aptly named “Tribus Lejanas”), only to finish off with a subdued atmospheric piece (“Continuum”) which is stripped away from all the ticking and pulsating cadences from before, beautifully alluding to the fact that the ominous presence of time will eventually cease, but the soul -or whatever you believe in- will keep on going in a state of transcendence; it's just too bad that this record does end. Well, there’s always the repeat option.

From time to time, a few…

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