Suburban
Speed

Rating: 7.5/10

by: Jonathan Greer

Although they never seem to be that dormant, The Catastrophist is Tortoise's first studio album for seven years. The seeds of this record were sown as far back as 2010 when the band were commissioned by the City of Chicago to compose a suite of music inspired by the area’s noted jazz and improvised music communities. Those pieces were performed live and were re-worked and expanded when this new album began to take shape.

Their roots remain in post-rock, jazz and dub, though it's interesting that the dominant synths from their previous album Beacons of Ancestorship are never far away. In fact the first fifteen seconds of opening track 'The Catastrophist' are a flurry of them, as if we've accidentally come into a synth jam, although the title track relaxes into a more cinematic post-rock amble. 'Gesceap', which opens side two, is similar, with a couple of weaving synth lines combined before the whole band kick in.

Having said that, all of the band's elements take centre stage at various points. 'Hot Coffee' is an idea that was left over from 2004's It's All Around You, and Jeff Parker's guitar playing is very much to the fore, just as it is on the ominous 'Shake Hands With Danger'.

'The Clearing Fills' is atmospheric with a pretty melody, 'Ox Duke' is heavier on the drum interplay and dubby bass, and 'Gopher island' is a brief squelchy synth interlude which could work as incidental music on Cartoon Network.

It's not the most bizarre track though, as that is surely their cover of David Essex's 'Rock On'- which features a fairly faithful-to-the-original vocal from U.S. Maple's Todd Rittmann. Although the original version was coated in weird reverse reverb, Tortoise's one is more dubby and in a way it harks back to their equally unusual covers album The Brave and the Bold.

Rittmann isn't the only guest vocal though, as Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo steps up to deliver a beautifully downbeat vocal on the dreamy 'Yonder Blue', which she also co-wrote.

The Catastrophist is an inventive and varied release. Tortoise have returned in style and they gel together so well on this recording, which may prove to be their most satisfying work since Standards.