In their eponymous first full-length album, Gauntlet Hair assembles nine loud and brassy tracks into a mostly enjoyable stream of music. Their debut album’s first two singles “Keep Time” and “Top Bunk” are upbeat and bouncy, with an overwhelming and, at times, tiring amount of noise. Most of the rest of the album has a similar feel to these tracks and to the band’s previous self-released songs. While that doesn’t necessarily speak well to their versatility as artists, it’s clear that they’ve found their sound, and it’s a unique one at that.

Overall, Gauntlet Hair is a solid effort. Most of the album is well put-together, novel and generally enjoyable to listen to. But, the overwhelming noise and the lack of variety make it nearly impossible to bear end-to-end. Fans of Gauntlet Hair may want to pick up the whole album, but for casual listeners I’d have to recommend downloading only a few of their stronger tracks, namely “Lights Out” and the previously-mentioned singles. On a side note: some of these songs are dying for an ambitious remix.

“Gauntlet Hair” will be released on 18 October by Dead Oceans.

– David Goldfarb