A retrospective and fitting tribute to 4AD's seminal, underappreciated band
On their farewell album, the Wolfgang Press take the final plunge and finally make a straightforward, unashamed dance record underplaying the oddball arrangements, dark undercurrents and inscrutable left turns of their earlier, artsier post-punk releases.
Bird Wood Cage remains one of the most pivotal records in the Wolfgang Press catalogue; here, the trio begins to incorporate the mutant dance and funk elements which would ultimately emerge as the dominant facet of their work.
This ambitious album builds on the eclecticism of the EPs, further broadening the trio's horizons by layering their dark, unforgiving sound with elements of industrial and classical music. A challenging, even punishing album, but a rewarding one as well.
Displaying marked leaps in sophistication and textural variety over their earliest work in Mass and Rema-Rema, the set compiles three EP's and establishes the trio as witty and incisive pop deconstructionists.
