After a four-year hiatus, Tim Kinsella and company are back with a new, off-color update from Joan of Arc. The Chicago outfit’s latest project, He’s Got the Whole This Land is Your Land in His Hands, builds off of the fuzzy genre focus and wry lyricism accredited to Joan of Arc since its formation almost two decades ago. Unlike the group’s more accessible indie rock releases, He’s Got the Whole features drawn-out, cacophonous melodies and disjointed, percussive interjections, reminding its listeners that Joan of Arc has never sought mainstream approval. The album features squelchy synthesizer, dissonant guitar breaks, and even some beat poetry. Kinsella and Melina Ausikaitis, Joan of Arc’s guitarist and backing vocalist, add another unsettling layer to the album with call-and-response vocal themes throughout.
Recommended If You Like: The Get Up Kids, Ought, Cap’n Jazz
Recommended Tracks: 4 (Full Moon and Rainbo Repair), 9 (Never Wintersbone You), 11 (Ta Ta Terrordome)
Do Not Play: 1 (Smooshed That Cocoon), 2 (This Must Be the Placenta)
Written by Madeline Connor on 03/08/2017
