Parlour - Parlour (2016)

If there is one constant with Parlour, it is that nothing is ever the same. For nigh two decades, the Louisville, KY experimental troupe - led by Tim Furnish of influential, defunct Louisville art-punk band, Crain - has relentlessly evolved in subtle but substantial ways. This consistent creative movement keeps the sound of Parlour forever curious, and impossible to predict. While that may make for some commercial challenges, it also makes for more compelling and mercurial music. On the band's self-titled fourth album, Parlour pushes ferocious, dynamic guitar rock to the brink with hypnotic repetition and shifting, stabbing rhythms. In fierce Parlour fashion, the driving crunch of guitars is punctuated with shimmering buzz of synths. The difference here, though, is Parlour has shed their trademark woodwinds in favor of a leaner, heavier aesthetic. With a reduced instrumental palette and increased focus on beats and riffs, the songs are more naked and intense - equal parts crashing krautrock, and crushing prog-rock.