Just as there are many different ways to pronounce or butcher this group's somewhat awkward name, there are many different ways to view DD/MM/YYYY on their latest album, Black Square. If you start from the front of the record, then Marc Masters' description of their sound (in his write-up of the album's excellent lead-off track, "Bronzage") is the way to go-- "think hyper math-punk with touches of prog and hardcore." If you're listening to this on shuffle, and you happen to land on "Birdtown", you might think you've stumbled across an uninspired horn-loving synth-heavy instrumental combo. If the wild oscillations and rumbling hiss of "Lismer" tumble from your earbuds, you'll think these guys are spastic obnoxious noiseniks. The NES mating calls in "I'm Still in the Wall" (along with an earlier album's title-- Blue Screen of Death) might have you believe DD/MM/YYYY are card-carrying members of Bitpop Nation.
In other words, Black Square covers a fair amount of territory over the course of 35 minutes. For better or worse, DD/MM/YYYY don't stay in one place for long, and they certainly don't keep still. As the bookends of this album ably display-- "Bronzage" at the start, "Digital Haircuit" at the end-- DD/MM/YYYY can rein in their stylistic happy feet long enough to bang out infectious and spry post-punky tunes. Most of the album features a fair number of similar songs that effectively encompass DD/MM/YYYY's disparate musical interests without seeming fussy or overwrought. Unfortunately, they try to mimic their stop-start rhythmic agility with the album's various stylistic shifts. It's not so much that the changes of pace are unwelcome, but it's the way these changes are implemented that causes problems.
The whip-smart call-and-response action in "No Life"-- think Fugazi with pocket-protectors-- is abruptly cut off at the two-minute mark, careening listeners headfirst into the queasy shimmering torpor of "'They'" and a potential case of whiplash. Detours like "My Glasses"-- a minute-long track of someone running their finger along the edge of vinegar-rimmed drinking glasses-- or the aforementioned "Birdtown" wouldn't be so bad if they weren't put back-to-back right in the middle of the album. These bait-and-switch tactics do a lot to stall the album's momentum. In the case of the brake-slamming tempo change in "Real Eyes", it can gum up the works mid-song. And then there's an arcade-game-sampling instrumental to contend with before Black Square gets back to doing what it did back at the start. For folks willing to roll with the punches, or fans of the Mae Shi and friends looking for more of the same type of hyper-hopscotch, Black Square will be a highly enjoyable front-to-back listen. But for folks expecting more versions of what its first few tunes promise, the sardonic words of advice offered in the intro to "$50,000 Guitar Head" suffice as a fair warning: "Good luck-- you'll need it!"
