It’s clichéd to say that a post-punk band sounds “thunderous,” but there isn’t a more apt descriptor for Viet Cong’s debut full-length. The reverberating drums that inaugurate “Newspaper Spoons” continue throughout, the twang of a 12-string guitar slicing into the torrent like carefully aimed bolts of lightning. But that guitar work lends this record a certain sense of optimism not easily found amidst other bands of their typified genre leaning, and there are certain parts – like the breakdown of “March Of Progress” – that sound straight-up psychedelic. This is a tense record, but all of its unease is pulled taught by Viet Cong’s meticulously-ordered, audacious arrangements. They envelop you. –Gabriela

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