High Minded.

Mind Spiders Offers Up A Free Song From Their New Album

Nobody seems to have a bigger appreciation for the Denton punk scene than the Portland-based indie label Dirtnap Records, which has released records by Bad Sports, High Tension Wires, The Marked Men and, most notably of late, Mind Spiders.

Almost exactly a year after Dirtnap released Mind Spiders' self-titled debut, the label has today released the band's follow-up LP, Meltdown, and already the disc has been reviewed by Pitchfork and Spin, the former giving the disc a 7.7 rating (a whole 0.2 points higher than their debut, for those scoring at home) and the latter calling it “surf-kraut-skate-rock.”

Upon initial spins, the disc comes across as a much more deliberate effort than last year's record, pulling off the rare trick of sounding both bigger and coming across more lo-fi at the same time. This can be attributed in part to the decision to use the dual drumming from their live setup in the studio this go-'round. Also like last time, there are several references to spiders in the album's lyrics, although the chorused group vocals now give the overt references to science fiction a more intentioned feel.

To help spread the word of the new album, the band has been kind enough to pass along the track “Wait For Us” to Central Track as a free download. The album's penultimate track, it features the sci-fi-heavy synths a little more prominently than the rest of the album's tracks do (save for the practically synth-only closer “Meltdown”), but otherwise stands one of the more straight-ahead, driving garage rock scorchers we've heard from the band thus far.