On fourth LP Happy Forever, long-running local noise-rock collective Coma in Algiers keeps the first half of that genre designation as prominent as the second. The sextet joyously slams dissonant chords together, kicking rhythms around and filtering voices through gradations of distortion. Then CiA drafts the skronk and discomfort into actual songs, built from off-kilter riffs, to be sure, but still (more or less) conforming to conventional structures. “February” and “Let’s Get Married” bash succinctly as they fray around the edges, while “Meaty Gums” and “Leipzig” simply fuck shit up. Mantra-minded midpoints “Swansea” and “Sexual Beings” screw riffs and groove into the ground without letting repetition become tedium. Making a racket should always be this fun.

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This article appears in December 25 • 2015.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.