About This Item
For their tenth LP in a career spanning more than two decades, Tulsa's Unwed Sailor deliver their heaviest riffs, loudest squalls, and most deeply textured arrangements yet. Cruel Entertainment is a catalogue of contrasts - dissonance and harmony, hardcore crunch and post-rock grandeur, complexity and catchiness - that adds a vibrant new dimension to the second phase of their discography, spanning thus far from 2019's landmark Heavy Age up to the Inchvivid, starry-eyed psychedeliaInch (AllMusic) of 2024's Underwater Over There.Opener and lead single, InchRock CandyInch, roars in with a gale of feedback, pounding drums, and nimble bass, until a latticework of howling guitars ushers us into a more goth-tinged space. It's a characteristically intricate, energetic composition that flows with remarkable ease between it's parts, and wastes not a moment of it's three minutes. InchSlab CityInch rolls on an assured, upbeat groove, shifting between tambourine-accented acoustic strumming and sparkling harmonies that spread out across the stereo field. As always, lead songwriter Johnathon Ford's bass performance provides the bedrock, alternately growling in the depths and buzzing with lively finesse in the upper register.InchMonster CollectingInch brings a rare combination of melancholic and driving energy, reminiscent of avowed heroes New Order, but ups the ante with a tight, fast-paced rhythm section and litany of guitar lines, until opening up into a cascade of reverberating textures and tenuous sweetness. InchLove ZooInch highlights the inventive drumming of Matt Putman, who creates negative space in his patterns to interlock with guitarist David Swatzell's stacked, dextrous melodies. Here, the band shines as a truly well-oiled machine, swelling and receding in unison, and situating every part in it's right place, down to the otherworldly electronic flourishes that adorn the
