This fall sees the release of their new full-length, Talk like Blood. Math-rock makes itself very discreet, a couple of songs only being in that genre. The post-punk-roots are still there, but what you get to hear is the influence of early-nineties alternative scene: one can safely assume that, on the way from one gig to the other, they listened a lot to Fugazi and Slint. The prog ambition is also included, although it rarely gets pompous –maybe The Mars Volta proved a good deterrent, an example of what not to do.

On reviewing previous releases, I already noted the quality of their songwriting. Unfortunately, although they recorded a rather song-oriented album, I feel they didn’t quite manage to live up to their talent for the whole duration of the album. In progressive or “more complicated than ordinary” music, it’s often a case of too much. Maybe that’s what scared 31Knots into recording songs that have “not enough” written all over them. A few tracks are indeed very disappointing because the ideas weren’t satisfyingly developed.

Thankfully, good bits are a-plenty. One thinks of City of dust, a perfect introduction track; Hearsay, a sinuous and sensual mid-tempo rock; the superb Chain reactions with it’s opening riffs that sounds like stadium rock before turning into some very emotional song; or the hectic Busy is bold. Oh, and you also get some blastbeats along the way.

31knots offers some really good and original music. However, I feel some things are not exactly as good as they could have been. I’m not as impressed as I was when I first listened to their two previous releases, but it’s maybe due to me having too much expectations? A fine album nonetheless that you might want to check out.