Battles are weird right? I mean they forsake common forms of verse and chorus and generic sounds to create something a bit different to other bands. Something edgy, experimental, even scientific but all the while quite catchy and dancey.

So it’s without surprise that the much anticipated sophomore album Gloss Drop delivers on these fronts, keeping the band true to its unique form of madness while still creating a highly listenable record.

Gloss Drop opens with “Africastle”, a spacious jangly guitar track with classic erratic plucked melodies thrown in over the top and a strong paced drum beat behind it. The band disappears into their own jam for a while, into a low breakdown and back again. Battles’ music switches seamlessly from repetitive jams to odd stops and starts to melodies and back. It is like they are humming the tune in their heads, and we just have to guess what’s next if we want to come along for the ride. “Inchworm” is much the same, it’s a complicated jam without any discernable markers for the listener to familiarise themselves with. “Wall Street” has a similar feel but it is a much more powerful song, with a lot of energy and a fairly consistent synth instrument on the melody.

“Ice Cream” starts strange, but what is really strange is that when the verse starts we are almost hearing an actual commercial song from Battles, with sort of a Yeasayer vibe. There’s more of a consistent vocal line in this song than I’ve ever heard from the band (even if they can’t help themselves from pitching the vocals all over the place). Apart from the spazzed out intro and outro, it may just be the most radio friendly song Battles have ever produced, although “My Machines” featuring Gary Numan would come a close second. In both tracks they have opted for some real structure development in more customary terms.

“Futura” has a sparse guitar sound, and a really big foreboding organ mixed really quietly underneath. It almost sounds like the polar opposite of a Justice song, in that the melodic arrangement of the organ is in the background and not at the forefront of the song. A great trait of Battles is the way they’re constantly adding guitar and noise rhythms and melodies over everything. It’s like they come up with a 20 second riff, write it on a post it note and stick it somewhere on the song. For most bands this just wouldn’t work, but for Battles it is what makes them work.

Another great thing about Battles is the little moments of pure genius. Like at 2:58 in “Wall Street” or at 2:53 in “Futura”. These are parts some bands could write whole songs on, but form only a piece of the puzzle that is Battles. But speaking of little moments, I don’t quite get the addition of the two short tracks “Dominican Fade” and “Toddler”. They don’t add much to the overall album for me.

Listening to Gloss Drop is a challenge for the first few times, as it’s a very taxing 53 minutes of music until you have established some familiarity with it. When you do get to “White Electric” though, you’ll be glad you stuck it out. “Africastle” stood out early though, and “Rolls Bayce” is the kind of track you love after one listen. Stand out track of the album is a real race between those two. But I can’t not mention “Futura” and “Wall Street” again here. The album is a pretty tight package overall with some really key strengths.

Not everyone is going to like Battles. So if you’re only reading this because all your cool Facebook mates have been posting great things about Gloss Drop then by all means go and check out some of their tracks online. Be warned though, Battles are not your standard band. But for those that “get” Battles, you’ll want to get Gloss Drop.

Review Score: 7.5/10