In their newest release, Doom Loop, Mansions embrace the simple pleasures of distortion. The duo, Christopher Browder and Robin Dove, recorded the album in Browder‰’s Seattle apartment resulting in a house-show sort of vibe. Nonetheless, the band‰’s decision to enlist the help of hardcore-punk hero Steve McDonald for the final production brings balance and clarity to an aggressive album.

“I‰’ve got nothing left to prove/I‰’m too tired to be the nice guy‰” sings Browder in the chorus of the album‰’s opener “Climbers.‰” This line captures the overall attitude behind the themes and sounds of the album. “Climbers‰” starts off with an overdriven guitar riff that prevails throughout most of the record.

The following song “Flowers In My Teeth‰” brings things down a notch, but not by much. In the first verse Browder sings, “The hours blow back and forth like leaves.‰” He offers listeners a view of time that escapes linearity. In doing so perhaps he indicates an encounter of the sublime, likely found in the “you‰” the chorus refers to.

The line, “I don‰’t really want you to say goodbye/But if you are leaving then it‰’s just polite,‰” in “If You‰’re Leaving‰” illustrates the lack of agency one can experience at an impasse of conflicting desires. That song chugs along in a more subtle way then some of the more distortion to underscore the solemn ambivalence behind the words.

“Out For Blood‰” posits itself as one of the most affecting tracks. Browder‰’s commanding listeners to “picture yourself in your old dad‰’s house,‰” alludes to a hazy past. Though he realizes that he “can‰’t get away‰” as one cannot completely sever oneself from the history that defines one‰’s self.

Mansions certainly tread into new territory in Doom Loop, though it maintains similarities to their earlier stuff as well. The fuzzy guitar riffs backing powerful vocal hooks keep listeners interested through dynamic shifts and changing lyrical topics.