Pyrrhic victories

Pyrrhic Victories’ most recent collection of songs, Gonna Go Back in Time and Fix Everything, operates within a fascinating fulcrum: these songs exude the easy cool of ho-hum slackerdom, but at the same time there isn’t a note out of place, not a strum off beat. Vocals are delivered with precision, the canned drums quantized as a metronome. Each sound is dialed in, no more than what’s necessary, to the point that even a ride pattern is a surprise. Despite these robotic components, the skillful layering of melodies and harmonies culminates in an impressively warm and inviting sound.

There are plenty of imaginative and surprising progressions throughout this seven-song ep, clever juxtapositions and off-kilter complements between the instruments, but like most of the best indie rock, it’s their singular style that sets Pyrrhic Victories apart. The fuzzed-out guitars and barebones percussion call to mind early Unknown Mortal Orchestra, with the melodic sensibilities of a recently un-Pavemented Stephen Malkmus. Multiple songs elide a ride pattern altogether. The songs are far from repetitive – no two sound alike. “The hills” depends on sturdy and measured bass chords for its foundation, while “must’ve been a dream” swarms through a mesmerizing chord pattern; “1-800-GOLF-TIP” employs a flummoxing rhythm, while “Juno” is a straight-ahead rocker with Strokes-like propulsion. Opener “Worm Welcome” showcases all of these strengths at once, with instrumentation, lyricism, production, and craft working in concert to create a near-perfect indie gem in just two and a half minutes.

Most of these songs eschew traditional verse-chorus-verse structures for a linear progression that reveals each part in turn, never to return. When applied with such innovative parts and instrumentation, it makes for an album-long succession of surprising shifts, holding the listener in a state of happy anticipation for the entire run.  

This is a fantastic example of music held tightly in the reigns of a talented composer, producer, and performer. Gonna Go Back in Time and Fix Everything is a delightful listen on its own, but the real joy anticipating what will happen when Pyrrhic Victories lets loose.