There’s been a lot of talk about Pile lately across various corners of the internet, thanks to a sound that is almost impossible to pin down to one genre. What is refreshing about their new album ‘You’re Better Than This’ is that where we live in a world of revivals and reunions, they stand out by not really sounding like anyone else. Their endgame is unclear, but it seems that what Pile are trying to achieve is just make the music they want, with no agenda to be the biggest band in the world.
That’s not to say that what they are doing on ‘You’re Better Than This’ hasn’t been done before, and opening track ‘The World Is Your Model’ draws heavily from the “Revolution Summer” sound of the late 1980’s. The off-kilter time signatures are reminiscent of early Fugazi, and Rick Maguire’s imperfect vocal is not the easiest thing to absorb right away but somehow works.
When you get to ‘Tin Foil Hat’ the vocals actually become incredibly welcoming, and fit right in amongst the dissonance of the music. As the album unfolds it becomes evident why Pile are somewhat difficult to categorise, with the serene guitar picking of ‘Hot Breath’ that builds into a cascade of noise, which they follow with the near indie-pop shimmer of ‘Touched By Comfort’.
Lyrically, Rick Maguire makes it difficult for the listener to understand what the content of the songs about, but can be left open to interpretation as they are often paranoid, and sometimes self deprecating. A fine case in point would be just a simple line like “My resume, while less than impressive, is consistent”, which almost anyone with an edge of self-doubt can relate too.
There are many twists to ‘You’re Better Than This’, which make it one of the more interesting listens to have come out in the first quarter of the year. The middle section of the record is certainly a more reserved affair, but they crank up the discordant crunch on ‘#2 Hit Single’ and the droning Sub Pop Records-esque ‘Yellow Room’. The cacophony of shrill guitars on ‘Appendicitis’ that draw out for over 7-minutes bring the album to a close in fine fashion.
‘You’re Better Than This’ is very up and down, and is unpredictable in its delivery yet consistent throughout. From the raucous moments to the melodic intricacies it all fits together in a bizarre disjointed puzzle. The only disappointing moment on the record was when reading the track listing and seeing ‘Fuck The Police’, is that is is in fact an acoustic interlude and not a cover of the iconic N.W.A track. However finding fault in ‘You’re Better Than This’ really is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Pile will very much be one of those bands that you will either instantly fall in love with, or completely hate straight away. ‘You’re Better Than This’ is not going to be an accessible album of everyone, but those who know where the band are coming from and understand it will probably find Pile becoming their new favourite band.
GLEN BUSHELL