Single Frame

Single Frame

Body/End/Basement (Volcom)

Single Frame has a problem. Throughout their sophomore LP, Body/End/Basement, the Austin trio exhibits symptoms of multiple personality disorder, both on the album and the accompanying DVD. Dance-punk, post-punk, and art-punk followed by industrial, electronic, and good ol' fashioned indie rock combine with bouts of depression and paranoia ("Through the Wires"). Single Frame has become a veritable symphony of genres, basking in the glory of dual keyboards. The diagnosis surfaces as instrumental opener "Stuffed Animal Wall" bleeds into the soft and spare "I'll Lose Your Balance" only to be backed up by a chaotic "New Blank Document." Yet with the opening drum rolls of "Culture Medium," the disc becomes a whirlwind tour through and over experiments of noise, beat, and sound. Whether decipherable ("Exact Copy of This in the Basement," the Beastie Boyish "Slum Pioneer") or not ("People Are Germs," a muffled "Second Handshake"), Single Frame's many talents blare with unprecedented ease. How this mélange can meld together so effortlessly is a mystery, but here's hoping no doctor dares put these local soundsmiths on meds before they reach their full-blown mania.