Factory Floor are a band I confuse with another band; I think it's Cold Cave. They aren't the same; FF are more sombre, a closer link to the late Seventies industrial musics. Even collaborating with them. These aren't lush tunes, they are skeletal. "16-16-9-20-1-14-9-7" is a very tight sound; ten minutes of subtle drumming and very unsubtle tapped keys. No idea what the numbers of the title mean. They reflect the enigmatic fixedness of the music neatly. It's a delicious, unflinching focus; but I'm not sure what the focus is on. Something I cannot see.
"A Wooden Box" sounds very box, but not so wooden. It has a very Teutonic sheen on top of its alarm bell synths and live drum kit. This is lent extra Deutsch by flat-pack vocals about "bullet train" and "lay it down on the ground" that I can't follow. It just wants to run and run until it crashes into the grandfather clock overdrive of the last two minutes.
"Solid Sound" rounds the collection off with noises moving in the dark, guitars bumping against the furniture and a big spooky hiss dripping from the wallpaper. I prefer the propulsive stuff, but I admire their techno-gumption; bringing the electricity in the instruments under their control one strand at a time. Even when they bark and strain. Solid work.
Rating: Enigma out of Intensity
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