Along with Black Dice, Sightings, and Excepter, Mouthus are part of the noise rock underground that took root in New York in the 2000s. Among the tricks in their bag on their self-titled debut are loose rock rumblings with free jazz drums and Sonny Sharrock-style guitar shredding (“Sand on Sand”) and primitive, machine-like workouts (“China Drier,” “Head of Shifting II”) with mumbled vocals and detuned strings fighting for attention underneath murky, distortion-heavy production. The rock side of Mouthus bears immediate resemblance to forbearers the Dead C and Harry Pussy, but surveying the terrain of their more rhythmic moments reveals a less familiar view, a dystopian, post-apocalyptic Silver Apples or early Einstürzende Neubauten seen in the bright light of day, but the resemblance is fleeting — Mouthus are in the process of carving out their own gnarled likeness on the horizon. – Wade Kergan