Coming Apart

An inescapable darkness serves as the through line for Coming Apart. Comprised of indie queen Kim Gordon on vocals and guitar and free-noise guitarist Bill Nace, the pair offers arrangements stripped to a no-wave minimum, privileging texture over formalized structure. In fact, to refer to Body/Head as a guitar-heavy project is an exercise in understatement, given the duo’s use of feedback to create both tension and atmosphere. This is not a light listen. Tracks like “Can’t Help You” or the 13-minute mostly instrumental epic “Black is the Color” are particularly sparse compositions that dedicate as much energy into weird guitar wobbles and hums as anything remotely resembling the pop-infused punk of Gordon’s Sonic Youth. Despite this apparent proclivity to eschew convention, tracks like “Last Mistress” or “Frontal” offer proof that Body/Head have more to offer than just noise.