The third album from this Woody Allen Sleeper robot-named Mount Airy, NC trio compiles two recent six-song EPs, 2024’s Ghost From Your Past and 2025’s Blue to Infinity. As on their two Mitch Easter-produced LPs, 2012’s Janus 4-14 and 2016’s Again and Again and Again, their fondness for brisk, astute, and sardonic post-punk/new wave returns, on the frenetic, guitar-spiraling, 1980 Stanley Kubrick classic The Shining-referencing “RedRum,” the admonishing, Maxïmo Park-like “The Boy Who Bears the Weight of the Whole World,” and crunchy bangers “Blue to Infinity” and “I Never Wanna See You Again,” on which singer Chad Barnard’s pleasant, affable vocals belie the critical nature of his words.
The rest is lighter, acoustic-based pop, but songs like the bittersweet “June Meets Tulip,” contented “Girl #9,” laudatory “Modern Girl,” and poised “It’s All Over Now,” as well as the soulful, Aztec Camera-evoking “Tell Her About the World” and the submerged, Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale”-tinted closer “Sad and Broken,” still provide plenty of aural fulfillment and songwriting agility.
Janus 4-14: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Charlotte Court Records: Website
