Is/Is: III

While reading the press release for III, I had a very strong suspicion I would like the record due to how much the writing on the release reminded me of the story on the cover of Goo. Unsurprisingly, a Sonic Youth influence hovers heavily over III, which, surprisingly, is the best effort from an all-girl group I’ve heard since Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods. III is unabashedly aggressive, melodic, and overflowing with worthwhile ideas that all cohere together to create something both understated and sprawling. While swirls of feedback cloak the songs themselves, Is/Is is still able to reveal a very strong personality. Occasionally, III can veer towards repetitive near-drudgery but Is/Is can work wonders in that territory and always pull a few new ideas to the forefront to justify the songs’ worth. On the whole, III is a very strong effort from a band who’s got a future ahead of them.