Imagine a rap duo who sounds like they collectively gorged on a steady diet of 80s electro, new wave, post-punk a la ESG and A Certain Ratio, and some experimental/noise projects on the side. Then, they took those elements and blended them into a nice puree that hops from style to style each project. Imagine if they had invented a style that you would confidently call Acid Rap if that wasn’t already the name of a Chance the Rapper album. Also imagine you also have an experimental rock project who has dropped music prolifically that lodges between noise music a la Load Records and sludge rock a la Southern Lord. Put these largely improvisational groups together, and what do you got? A melding of two sides where one element does not overtake the other. In fact, it doesn’t just sound like a blending of styles, but a melting of two different cheeses, to put it metaphorically. Nothing too crazy. That’s Wolf Eyes & Model Home.
If you want a fair description of what you’ll get from More Difficult Messages, the duo’s new project, it is an audio equivalent to when the most mind-melting drugs (choose one) kick in and the trip begins very frighteningly and never lets up on the surrealism. Guitars and drums from Wolf Eyes are all processed into the experimental nature of p cain’s production. Meanwhile, NAPPYNAPPA’s treated vocals add to an already frantic atmosphere. That’s just “Time Designers Vocal.”
The frantic nature turns more into a shadowy, near clastrophobic sludge of psychedelia. Think if Actress fed Geologist of Animals Collective some potent stuff that might literally melt his brain, and you will best describe “Stare Case Vocal” to a tee.
The album has two sides: the vocal and the version (instrumental). One goes backward and one heads forward. Each side might just give you a clearer perspective, production-wise, of what NAPPYNAPPA—the main vocalist on the album—has to work with, but it wouldn’t hurt as the “versions” are its own addition to the journey. Playing both the vocal and version of “Invisible Thread” back to back feels like an exit out of one part of the trip into another, and thus an unlocked exit.
If you are a fan of Wolf Eyes or Model Home, this EP will only be an addition to an already adventurous catalog for both parties. If not, this project can inspire curiosity in their bountiful crops for some open-eared newbies.
