“Islington”, Arvid Noe‘s crowning/singular vinyl captures the trio’s inexorable live sound, a last consummate utterance to commence “Noe Future” – Arvid Noe’s dying tour. Song structures simultaneously build steam and fall to pieces while somehow achieving an overreaching continuity, propelled by the furiosity of Zach D’Agiostino on drums, ripping a gash through a heavy blanket of squall and skronk.  Luke Einsiedler and Alek Glasrud’s guitars exist in a sound world entirely their own, the barrage forming a tight insulation around the compositions, each benefiting from repeated listens. “What Makes a Person Break Their Phone” reads as an open love letter to US Maple as much as The Minutemen, unleashing chainsaw fuzz and silencing, both subtle and visceral.  “Islington” rarely stays the same. Pieces fall away and regain momentum, timing and harmonic/dynamic approach change so drastically that the shape-shifted piece scarcely resembles its former self, followed by a massive refrain.  Each of the 6 tracks on the record are illustrative in this way. Arvid Noe is one of the few bands that epitomizes a specifically Allston aesthetic, one that is difficult to explain by conventional means, or one possibly understood best by having seen these songs performed at a GGs show.  Luminously captured by Mark Fede, who has an impressive assemblage of engineering credits from the past few years (Fat History Month, Guerilla Toss, Skimask), “Islington” is not one to be missed.  File next to “awesome bands that left this earth too soon.”  Get it @ Hiddentempletapes.com. Also Luke has Big Bear vinyl if anyone is looking… Out on Hidden Temple Tapes/Midnight Werewolf Records/Surveillance Investments.

– Matt Robideaux