Hyperfield of Sound
Hydrofield of Myth
Christiana (High School Champion)
Some music is born to be heard at high volume while you are driving your car at high speed, preferably on a remote back road. Hydrofield of Myth by indie band Christiana (formerly known as Neck) is more like excellent music to blast out the windows while driving a high-speed train. Not just straight ahead, either. We're talking a long and winding railway. Not all the songs are that fast-paced, though. A couple of tunes slow down to just under the Interstate speed limit.
The songs that make up this recording sound like 19 variations or slight rearrangements of the same song. Sound repetitious and boring? Not at all. What it feels like is the full-speed-ahead and jangly soundtrack to a 1960s B-movie, conjuring up images of bare feet, bellbottom jeans, drugged hippies dancing with their limbs flailing about like Medusa's head of snakes and Day-Glo everywhere.
Yet the music itself is not actually psychedelic, so if you're looking for long jams, you're in the wrong place. These songs range in length from the entire 50 seconds of "Money House," which provides one of just a couple of the isolated moments of almost relaxed knee-bouncing, to "Divided Loyalties," a song of just under three minutes that shifts gears at least 5 times and is danceable in all of them (despite your risk of whiplash). The predominant sound through "Sub-Zero" is that of someone knocking on your cabin door with a guitar. That leaves a mere 16 other songs that, even though it might not legally be punk rock, give lots of reason to dance the "pogo."
In short, this is great stuff for all who enjoy a short burst of frenetic musical energy, those who don't like to slow down. But heed this warning: if you listen to this while driving, expect a public servant in a dark blue uniform to ask for your license and registration after he or she has pulled your speed-metal butt over.