It’s as frenetic and skittering as anything black midi has done, though like the best bits of Schlagenheim, it hangs together according to its own furious groove-logic-at least until it crashes to a stop in a terrifying maelstrom of horror-movie noise. He assumes the same gather-round-ye-youngins storytelling tone on “Hogwash and Balderdash,” a track so similar to “John L” that I initially thought my stream had returned to the beginning of the album. Greep speaks his way through the story in a pursed-lip narration that almost resembles Les Claypool. Cavalcade’s first and best song, “John L,” is queasy and raucous, a prog-punk mutant creature that serves as the vehicle for Greep’s tale of a cult leader named John Fifty and contains more false endings than the Trump presidency. That’s not to say black midi is going soft or making pop moves. Fans may spend the lush tune on edge, waiting for a careening crash of guitar noise that never comes. Greep sings more than he mutters or shrieks, and sometimes he even croons, as on “Marlene Dietrich,” an uncommonly melodic nod to the 1930s screen legend outfitted with velvety strings. It’s wordy and lyric-minded, with long, serpentine narratives that unfold like shape-shifting fruit roll-ups. Where Schlagenheim felt serrated and sharp-edged and packed tight with grooves, Cavalcade feels brooding and explorative. “So, it was like: this time let’s make something that is actually good.”Ĭonsciously or not, Greep was warning the group’s fans that Cavalcade wouldn’t feature more of the same, and it doesn’t. “People seemed to really like the debut album but after a while we all became pretty bored with it,” Geordie Greep told The Quietus recently. In the lead-up to black midi’s second album, Cavalcade, the band did indulge one indie-rock cliché: slagging off their celebrated debut and promising the new one will be different. Schlagenheim’s unholy mix of avant-prog and math-rock aggression wasn’t just technically masterful it also felt refreshingly out-of-style, the rare indie buzz album more likely to draw comparisons to Trout Mask Replica than, say, Joy Division. It’s been two years since the band’s debut, Schlagenheim, consummated months of buzz about the mysterious London band’s frenetic live performances. Black midi’s music is meant to play at high volume while you nod intensely and scroll through Reddit threads analyzing the band’s time signatures. It’s like trying to watch Tenet while filing your taxes. What’d I expect? Black midi’s music isn’t meant to hover in the background while you carry out household chores. I tried shaving while playing the new black midi album and promptly cut my face.