120 Days – 120 Days II

…and counting

This Norwegian experimental quartet has been rocking in their own esoteric way for over a decade now. Their secondself titled album, 120 Days II, is technically the group’s fourth record (two EPs were released under the moniker The Beautiful People). With this new album being their first in six years, 120 Days find themselves pleasing longtime fans while founding a whole new generation of followers.

“Spacedoubt” kicks off the album with exactly what you might think a song with this title sounds like – wandering, spacey, electronic noises paired with bleeps and bloops and synth stabs, all growing into a crescendo which drops off when the hypnotic vocals kick in. It is a powerful into to a very ethereal album, and the English vocals, while difficult to decipher, are unmistakably haunting. The following track, “Dahle Disco”, is similarly avant-garde, spanning nearly ten minutes in length. It is characterized by spacey synths, catchy drumming, and disarming guitar distortion which take the listener on a psychedelic journey. In the middle of the album are songs “Lucid Dreams,” parts one, two, and three, followed by “Sleepless Nights.” The back to back to back concept jams sound like super charged, up-tempo, finger blistering, psychedelic rock, and then some.

120 Days are without a doubt one of the most complex and relatively unknown bands of today. 120 Days II is not for everyone, but the careful listener is rewarded with a high speed roller coaster ride of musical influences including jazz, funk, post-rock, and… do I hear gospel? Fuck yes. To make sure your brain doesn’t explode whilst trying to dissect 120 Days II, we will simply tag this with the buzzword, “experimental”. If these guys managed to put out another record anytime before the next six years, you better believe that I am pre-ordering it.