X-Ray Press’ UVB-76 is Math-rock played out through progressive rock’s storylines, hardcore’s shouts and screams (instrumentally and vocally), and similar to White Denim’s jazz-like approach to art rock. Broken up into movements labeled like a complex outline, the album hits peaks and valleys in quick succession, leaving the listener grasping for hooks even as they slip off the slopes. The movements are separated by interludes which beautifully take apart the previous set while putting the next display into motion. The slam down sections bring out comparisons to other College/Art Rock obscurities like Heros Severum (review) and the Vaz (review). It’s also Adrian Belew played through 80’s and 90’s hardcore, so that the jazz fusion, doodling progressions, and guitar-led mechanizations come full tilt.
I also love this album for the fact that it’s named after the Russian transmitter that since 1982 has been broadcasting mainly an indecipherable buzz on a shortwave signal. A mysterious buzz definitely helps describe the experience of listening to X-Ray Press.
