With its cheerful collision of disjointed guitar rhythms, unpredictable drumbeats, and strained soprano vocals, it is almost impossible to listen to Hi Red Center's second album, Assemble, without being reminded of the musical pandemonium exemplified by San Francisco quartet Deerhoof. The excellently titled opening track, "Toothless Beau", sounds uncannily like an outtake from Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity, bridging the same terrain between bracing chaos and cutesy charm that makes that band so entertaining. The similarities between the two groups are so apparent at first that it takes a few tracks before Hi Red Center's own quirky personality comes out to play, finally coaxed out of the shadows of its influences.
Assemble is more focused and crisp sounding than the band's 2005 debut, Architectural Failures, and this type of production better suits their current material, providing space for all the intricate layers of sound to radiate through. The New York-based six piece have an extensive amount of ideas up their sleeves, the most obvious being their penchant for juxtaposing seemingly oppositional sounds and demonstrating how well they can work together. The two dominant tones on this album are fractured, dueling U.S. Maple-style guitar lines that rub against the delicate plinks of a vibraphone, such as on the song "Littlest Giant", which shows the band at their hyper-experimental best. Not an instrument to be underestimated, the vibraphone's prominent place on Assemble is a light melodic springboard, always present for the other sounds to bounce off. Since vocalists Laura Barger and Marla Hansen joined the original core members in 2007, the band have also been able to experiment more fully with gang vocal rounds, and on tracks like "Symmetry Chameleon" this brings a sense of unity to the recording, tying the shards of guitar together with staggered, rich mini-choir interludes.
Although the sheer hyperactivity and stop-start nature of Assemble can make it a somewhat uncomfortable listen at first, it is worth rising to the challenges Hi Red Center present. Their experimental noise rock is frequently defined by a deceptively disheveled structure that is in fact highly restrained, much like the SKiN GRAFT label's 1990s catalog. While it takes a bit of patience, this energetic, rhythmic approach combined with moments of unabashed, childish glee makes for some highly adventurous pop.
