Strange Wilds excel at controlled chaos on Subjective Concepts

The album cover for Concepts pictures a woman either running or playing (both?) at the edge of a tall building. It's fascinating and terrifying - just like the music contained within. SW's brand of post-hardcore takes the fury of Refused and Modern Life Is War and paints it with '80s grunge. Flailing guitars give way to lurching basslines while the drums frantically try to hold everything together. It's controlled chaos, really.

The result is a combination of explosive rage like the chorus of "Pronoia" and the spasmatic "Egophillia" paired with the seasick-sounding "Don't Have To" and the uneasy swaying of "Outercourse". The album as a whole plays out like a person struggling with sanity, and the song titles reflect this: five songs are psychology terms. "Oneirophobe," for example, is a person who fears dreams and includes the lines, "I feel fine, I feel OK / Just so scared of the everyday" and "I can't think any louder / You'll just have to learn how to read my mind".

It helps that their singer/guitarist (Steven, whose last name is never mentioned in any press) sounds like he's exhausted as he sings, screams, and shrieks through the din - as if all this blood-letting yields no positive results. Unhealthy though it may be, the pain expressed certainly produced a great debut.