Polyvinyl Records
2008
Worried Well
About This Album
Critics cite Sonic Youth, prog rock, post-rock, anti-rock, and math rock when talking about the angular, frenetic, and slightly disturbing music made by 31 Knots but this eccentric little trio -- Joe Haege (singer/guitarist/keyboard player and main songwriter), drummer Jay Pellicci, and bassist Jay Winebrenner -- has claimed their own unique little piece of rock turf. There are hints of Talking Heads and late-'70s N.Y. no wave bands like the Ambitious Lovers in the mix, but their angular, irregular tunes are unlike most of what's going on in rock music in the early 2000s. The music the band plays is slightly disjointed and linear in structure, but songs still hold together enough to be recognizable as pop tunes. Haege's chaotic guitar work is always melodic even as it skirts the boundaries of dissonance, while Pellicci's drumming and Winebrenner's basslines hold Haege's forays in check and add a rhythmic drive that keeps everything moving forward, although not in a manner anyone would call straightforward. Haege's lyrics are just as anarchic as the music, images that go off at oblique angles, like looking through a kaleidoscope factory through a kaleidoscope. Haege has an inimitable vocal style.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,5,6 and 9)

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