Parts & Labor emerged out of the Brooklyn noise-rock scene that has given the world so many awful bands (broken-up These Are Powers, not-broken-up Ponytail, etc.), but with 2007’s Mapmaker (QRO review) reached way above the scene, with a crash-and-build epic that wasn’t noise. 2008’s Receivers (QRO review), their first & only with ex-guitarist Sarah Lipstate (Noveller – QRO photos), took them even further from that scene, though perhaps had too much melody for a band that doesn’t focus on melody. Back to a trio with Constant Future, the band is more established than ever, if a little like what came before.
The construction begins with opener "Fake Names", and continues onwards and upwards with the following "Outnumbered", but this is not just a build, or even just a crash-and-build album. There are the bigger & bolder Parts & Labor tracks like "A Thousand Roads", "Without a Seed", "Bright White", "Hurricane", and "Neverchanger", the last four of those comprising an effective and epic final third to Future. But there are also departures on this path, such as the darker (if too key-tech at times) title track, wider (if not deeper) "Rest", and more distant & more interesting loss, "Pure Annihilation".
There are also a couple ‘run-of-the-mill Parts & Labor’ songs, back-to-back "Skin and Bones" & "Echo Chamber", which don’t sound run-of-the-mill compared to anything else, but do when compared to the band’s previous work. In building this new world, Parts & Labor do repeat their foundation of punk keys and industrial guitars with ‘voice of authority’ vocals – it wouldn’t be surprising if everyone’s favorite Parts & Labor record is the first one that they heard.
Rule #1 of alternative music, perhaps even popular music as well, is to ignore a band’s name – and this holds doubly true in music journalism (especially if you’re interviewing a band – never ask them where they got their name from…). But ‘Parts & Labor’ is an apt name for the alt-tech/punk trio, as they are truly building, truly constructing with their music, piece-by-piece, crashing crescendo by keyboard tone. Like Sisyphus, or our own efforts in the Middle East, they may never get there, but they keep building into the Constant Future.
MP3 Stream: "A Thousand Roads"
