Album Review: Body/Head - The Switch

Who is the body and who is the head in this wildly obtuse Kim Gordon and Bill Nace project?

The output is so drowned in droning and dissonance that it really is hard to tell where Gordon ends and Nace begins. The ex-Sonic Youth frontwoman and jazz musician pairing is not a new thing — they put out their debut Coming Apart in 2013 — but the hugely spacious experimental rock is somewhat of a jarring surprise. Where their first album revelled in some dirty rock housed within some sort of song structure, The Switch is just that: a musical about-face that feels like an adrift ship traversing vast, barren seas bereft of rhythm or motif to anchor it, with no break in between its five long tracks to offer relief.

Granted, there are some moments of haunting melodic beauty in Change My Brain, where the ever-buzzing guitars mercilessly take a backseat to some dissonant flute piping. Vocally there are some interesting textures offered by Gordon's reverb-drenched words.

There is a place for this kind of music, but perhaps it's the live setting, because plonking it on for the simple act of spinning some tunes is not going to keep guests entertained at your next barbecue.