I Complain, the first full album by Philary, is a brutal and brief blast of twisted and gnarly noise rock. It’s the work of Stove member and Titus Andronicus contributor Alex Molini; he plays and sings everything with feverish intensity. The 11 songs fly by in less than 20 minutes, hitting hard and getting the hell out quickly. He uses elements of metal (downtuned guitars and howled vocals), shoegaze (layered guitars and washes of sound), and indie rock (lo-fi scrappiness and yearning vocals) to create a sound that feels like a Stove record that was buried in the dirt for a couple years, then exhumed and played backwards. Or a Torche record that was set on fire, completely warped, then played back at two different speeds. It’s melodic at times, and harsh at others, with…
…heavy-as-wet-mud guitars battling thundering drums and battered-and-bruised bass for dominance — and playing to a tie. Add in vocals that switch between high-volume screaming and tender crooning, and one can be forgiven for not being sure if this is a metal record masquerading as an indie record or vice versa. Either way, the record should work for fans of both styles since songs like “Old Leg” and “Clown Man” — and really the entire album — combine the heaviness of sludge metal with the sharp melodies of indie rock near perfectly. Molini works this alchemy like a master, never taking the heaviness to a breaking point while never forgetting to make the pretty songs sound as much like they were scraped from the earth’s core as possible (check “Lost Time” for a perfect example).
I Complain isn’t easy listening to be sure, but it is a strong, interesting, and frequently moving debut.