Megafauna

And So I Watch You from Afar changed course a little bit with Jettison, an ambitious multimedia work including string arrangements and spoken passages by Emma Ruth Rundle and Neil Fallon. It was given a few full-scale performances, featuring visuals by Sam Wiehl, and a studio recording was released in 2022. Compared to Jettison, 2024s Megafauna is a relatively back-to-basics effort for the band, which means that its a high-octane set of triumphant, muscular rock songs without lyrics. Opener "North Coast Megafauna" does feature some group "whoa"s low in the mix, right as a wave of guitars begins to crest. The track also breaks down and hits a stop-start sludgy section that nearly sounds like an entirely different song. "Do Mor" delivers its complex rhythms and razor-sharp guitars with arena-rock pomposity, even incorporating cowbell. The two-part "Mother Belfast" goes through calmer, textural sections as well as more amped-up, thrashy parts, demonstrating the bands dexterity. "Any Joy" features returning contributors Arco String Quartet, whose rich, dramatic strings rise up with the groups crashing guitars, forming one of the most dynamic moments on the album. "Button Days" is more overtly joyous, careening from punkish blasts to celebratory handclaps and even more cowbell, sounding like a pleasant soundtrack for skateboarding at a park. "Me and Dunbar" shows the band stepping back and constructing the type of crescendo theyve usually sidestepped, although they allow space for a little bit of a softer buildup before exploding, and the song ends up as a swoon-worthy cruise thanks to some stunning psychedelic guitar effects. ASIWYFA are highly skilled at making complex, aggressive music that manages to be fun and spontaneous rather than overwhelmingly serious, and Megafauna is a reliably enjoyable effort. ~ Paul Simpson