Golden Frames by Princess Thailand

If the holiday season has you feeling a bit angsty this year, look no further than Golden Frames by Princess Thailand, a blistering noise rock record out of France that will give you something to punch out your drywall to. The drums and bass here deliver a consistent onslaught, at times veering towards post punk dance grooves and at others giving us the extreme pulsing sound of no wave. Likewise, the guitars do double duty as melodic elements and noisemakers, using their end of the frequency spectrum to add comfort or anxiety to the existing mix. Finally, the vocals guide us through the record, remaining mostly sung as they stand in for our own feelings, belting out nihilistic rants as the surrounding band brings these words to life. Rock purists also have something to celebrate here, as the band mostly sticks to these classic elements to bring us a remarkably diverse range of sounds. However, no matter how much diversity Princess Thailand serves up in their style, each moment still exists mainly to raise our blood pressure and give a voice to our directionless anger.

- Michael