Pretty soon you’re gonna be driving your rickety car over frost-heaves and snowbanks dirtied with roadsalt, and you’re gonna need the right music to match that bitter pain/pleasure combination. Well look no further, because Alpine Decline‘s self-titled fits the bill: ratty guitar tones, cascading synth licks, and infectious washed-out vocals make this album a perfect cold-weather cut. The album grows out of the previously released single “Encounter”, sporting a myriad of influences but somehow coalescing into a definitive, unique sound. The album definitely has its own harshness; from the brittle string-clicks and haunting progressions of “Altitude Sickness” to the pushy pop and disorienting synthscapade of “The Ghost”, to the swirling faux-gaze and gritty 60s feel of “From The Cedars”, it’s clear this album is true to tenzenmen’s reputation for interesting, scratchy lo-fi. Yet parts of the album are painfully contemplative – the death knell and stoner-gone-introvert guitar of “The Pilgrim Got Drunk”, the jazzy 3-beat of “Into the Freeze”, and the pseudo-folk guitar and accordion hum of “Stole Away” all provide the remedy for (or, maybe, the cause of) the harsher bits. Don’t wait for the snow to fall before you snag this – step on over to tenzenmen and get acquainted with this album asap.