When it comes to chosen names, ‘Box’ feels rather cheeky. This one man band’s work refuses to be kept tidy, or easily placed within a genre. Or any kind of box. Beyond “cold, arty rock”, the songs on ‘Born To Crawl’ refuse to conform to any label, and certainly don’t fit any pre-conceived ideas you may have about a musician who has previously been associated with US punks Poison Idea. There are moments that, perhaps, fall a little further in line with multi-instrumentalist Andrew Stromstad’s work with blackened doom band Atriarch but, again, at its best, the Box sound feels very different. It’s certainly less heavy and although it feels more experimental, it’s actually more accessible than some of his past works. The heart of Box definitely shares like a fresh sound for Stromstad, making it the perfect side project.
Throughout these four tracks, you’ll uncover influence from a number of different genres, although none truly dominate, or lean towards a singular mood. The material is often bleak, but rather than opting for a predictable misery fest, it aims for a strange detachment which brings a little post punk art into a gothic landscape that shakes any influences into something that feels a little more interesting than most.
The title track opens with a vocal, tempo and tone that immediately evokes the goth pop of The Bolshoi, albeit delivered in a chunky style. The mid tempo arrangement and hard edged guitar feels very 80s, but in order to give the familiar an unexpected twist, the guitar work has been subjected to heavy effects which give the feeling that they’ve been pulled from an old My Bloody Valentine recording from ‘Loveless’ where the riffs feel stretched. As the track progresses, the guitar work weaves all manner of patterns, switching from the gothic to moments of post-rock loudness. A steady bassline ensures everything connects well, however, and Stromstad’s vocal – moving between 80s goth croon and an explosive hard rock cry as the growing melody dictates – is always impressive. The heavily layered sound is in danger of masking the melody’s more subtle elements, but in time, you’ll discover a tune here that sounds like a modern twist on an alternative 80s classic.
‘Exposed’ takes the doom chords beloved by Atriarch and replays them with a dense shoegaze tone, creating something that shows off Box’s heavier side with ease during an epic intro. Moving into the verse, the heaviness subsides, making way for more goth-pop and a curling vocal that shares Stromstad’s best performance against more mangled guitar sounds. The first half of the number settles into a great twist on a shoegaze sound, but from the mid point things get a lot more interesting. The goth vocal continues to sound great, but an unexpected shift into falsetto sounds and, latterly, a jagged post metal shrieking takes the listener through a full spectrum of emotion. In order to counterbalance this, the music eventually feels a little more sedate, choosing to focus on the 80s goth sound via the bass, but pretty much nobody would expect a coda that, melodically, would end up owing far more to a Chris Rea deep cut circa ‘On The Beach’… Very much a kitchen sink affair, this track takes one man’s strange musical vision and truly runs with it.
In a complete change of style, ‘Ayla’ presents blasts of brass, almost like an ugly take on a Tom Waits tune circa 1983, and then drops in hard beats and a heavy funk bass. The sounds that gradually emerge are of a brilliant art rock persuasion and huge, atonal chords challenge an 80s groove. Everything feels fractured and yet, at the same time, feels like it’s building to something. Those with a well attuned ear might hear something that sounds like a post rock band channelling a deep cut from Japan’s ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’, or a dark cousin to ‘Manifesto’ era Roxy; there are even moments that draw influence from obscure prog rock. Whatever the influence and musical direction here, there’s a strong feeling that Stromstad’s willingness to experiment is creating something special. In comparison to a couple of Box tracks, there’s much less of a melody and more of a moody sound, but the result is never less than fascinating.
Chopping guitar and hard edged drums kick off ‘Taku’, occasionally hinting at a love of Pere Ubu, but the arrival of huge guitar chords quickly takes the disjointed post punk sounds further into the realms of post rock. Once everything finds its feet, a marriage of post rock riffing and shrill lead guitar creates a strange blend of goth rock and prog metal, augmented by the kind of coldness you might find coming from the more accessible end of Alcest’s work. In terms of capturing Box with a cinematic quality, this is definitely a standout track, especially once soaring lead guitars are allowed to dominate. For the more adventurous prog fan, the layered approach and fairly miserable tone within unexpected harmony vocals will help to shape this slow burning cut.
Each of the tracks on this EP are worth hearing, but the way Stromstead makes the multi-faceted arrangement of ‘Exposed’ sound genuinely natural gives ‘Born To Crawl’ not only a standout, but the kind of track that continues to reward on repeated listens. For fans of melodic post rock, shoegaze and goth, there’s definitely plenty here that’ll be of interest, even if nothing appears to be neat or immediately accessible. Time spent will eventually reap those listening rewards. It’s great to hear an underground act truly forging their own path, even if the results aren’t always traditionally catchy.
December 2024