K-Holes
Dismania
Hardly Art

I expected Dismania to hit me rapid-fire with the same infectious hooks on the K-Holes’ first record, but it’s a little different: more of a slow burn, with hidden, dark refrains that stick with you well into the night like a haunting dream that you can’t shake. “Window in the Wall” has a tragic “Lonesome Town” vibe, but with a stoic surrender that suggests too many miles of bad road for there to be light at the end of the tunnel. “Mosquito” is a night of chaos that chokes you out and unexpectedly lets you go without the dignity of a ride home. “Numb and Nothing New” will find you writhing around with your own vices, reluctantly telling your remorse to take a walk because you feel just fine there. All of the staple elements that make up this band’s apocalyptic midnight sound are still in place: driving guitars droning, lonely bass lines, aching, echoing saxophone, urgent, desperate tom and bass drums that sound like they’re being bludgeoned mercilessly with mallets. And those vocals! K-Holes’ dual female/male vocals (from Vashti Windish and Jack Hines, mostly) spill forth from the deepest tread-worn regrets of a lost soul after the party’s over, like Siouxsie and Darby negotiating over the last fix before the sun comes up. This record lends a lurid soundtrack to things I know I shouldn’t be doing. It has wormed its way into my brain and into my heavy rotation stack. And it feels just fine there.

-Tracy Chase