Ideally, I would be a bit more interested in art. In visual art- paintings, sketches, MS Paint monstrosities- whatever. I wish I knew more about the meaning of a brush stroke or even had the desire to know more about the meaning of a brush stroke. I spend a lot of time listening to music and, subsequently, I see a lot of album covers. I would describe myself as vaguely interested in some of them but, as a whole, I’m unaffected. But MG Ultra hits different. Scrolling mindlessly through new releases, I decided to use the tried and true ‘judge a book by its cover’ method to find an album to listen to. (I understand it’s ’never judge a book by its cover’ but what can I say, I’m a rule breaker). MG Ultra stood out. The front and back album art was done by artist Thon; it’s possibly the best cover art I’ve ever seen. I’d describe it here but honestly, just go look it up. It’s worth it. Given all this, know there’s a lot of weight behind it when I say MG Ultra’s music lives up to MG Ultra’s art.
Machine Girl consists of duo Matt Stephenson and Sean Kelly. Stephenson is the sole creator of the project with Kelly being recruited later for percussion. The band is fairly chaotic genre wise; terms like hardcore and noise are thrown around but the overarching label of electronic usually takes centre stage. To me, they’re electronic in a way that implies they’re actively fighting ‘electronic’ the genre. It’s a war and they, the band, are winning.
This is a long lead in for a fast paced album- let’s get to it.
Machine Girl’s album MG Ultra was released in October of this year. My favourite tracks on the album share one common quality- an escapism that permeates every bass, drum and synth note. Is every layered and multiplied effect completely necessary? No. But taken together, the lush soundscape creates an entirely different reality filled with beautiful, but hostile, noises.
Machine Girl threads a melody through album opener “Until I Die” that keeps the track structured despite the wall of sound that reverberates throughout. The sound builds, and spikes, quickly. Varied vocals keep the song from feeling monotonous. “Nu Nu Meta Phenomena” sounds like a video game fever dream. The buried vocals and heavily layered effects create a sound that is not entirely comprehensible. I delight in my own confusion. This album is the most ‘polished’ of Machine Girl’s work; it’s that pretension to order that makes the chaos hit so hard.
“Half Asleep” breaks up the album with dreamy instrumentation and semi-whispered lyrics. “Motherfather” is my least favourite on the album and, concurrently, the track on which the band most effectively grasps the polish they’re reaching for. While the song is danceable and fun, it’s missing the opposing grit and discomfort that makes Machine Girl so dissonantly unique. Dance floor dirt is what I want and I get it in excess on “Grindhouse”. Percussion peeks through the synths with heavy pops while vocals pitch up and down along with the gyrating beat. Closer “Psychic Attack” builds sound with stacked synths and drums. The variable volume and slightly clearer vocals signal the end of the album and pull you back to reality from the fever dream that is MG Ultra.
The art, visual and musical, is immaculate. The pace is frantic. The sound may induce a seizure but trust I mean that in a complimentary sense. Machine Girl’s MG Ultra sluices freely between genres in a symphonic cacophony. While the album as a whole diverges from their previous work it offers their most cohesive statement yet.
