The British art-babies of These New Puritans may have done themselves a disservice by crafting the towering, epic "Navigate, Navigate" before they'd minted a full LP. That little heard, but truly massive 12 minute track was such a staggering leap forward from the itchy songs they'd provided before it, that the band has completely wrecked their expected learning curve. So now, as we get the first taste of the band's forthcoming Domino Records debut Beat Pyramid (now pushed back to January), it can't help but seem like a minor letdown.
"Numbers" is the back end of a double A-side single with fellow album track "Colours." It starts promisingly with George Barnett's speaker shaking drum hit. The beat serves as a post-punk base coat before strangled Gang of Four guitars and Jack Barnett's (G's twin) nervous yelping can be safely applied. The scrapes and pounding suit the moon barking lyrics about deeper numerical significance so well that the rushing semi-melodic chorus almost seems flabby, or worse "jazzy," in comparison. It's still promising material over all, and the band has proved that they do have sharp hooks in them on pre-"Navigate" singles. Expectations will just have to settle down a bit until the full record drops.