And So I Watch You from Afar: All Hail Bright Futures

Amazingly, Belfast's ASIWYFA have been thrashing since 2005 – eight years of tricky time signatures, Venn diagram math rock, propulsive post-rock, and whatever else you want to call it tomorrow. There's no doubting the band's ambitions or integrity; there's also little doubt that this album (their third) sees the musicians stretch out like never before. Occasionally, they pull a muscle: Rats on Rock sounds as if they've drafted in drums from Trinidad, to not much useful effect; Ka Ba Ta Bo Da Ka features the band's welcome pulverising welded onto Malian blues guitar lines and the nonsense guttural track title; Stay Golden sounds like a cast- off from an edgier Disney movie. Thankfully, superb tracks such as Eunoia, Trails and Young Brave Minds provide unshakeable ballast. sargenthouse.com/ and_so_i_watch_you_from_afar
Download: Eunoia, Trails, Young Brave Minds