As much as I herald purchasing physical copies of music*, grabbing Pinebender's new album Working Nine to Wolf on its official day of release without having heard any of the songs in advance (studio versions, at least) was a trip back to my high school purchasing habits. I've typically been fortunate to "find" such albums and know whether they're worth picking up long before the release date. Adding to this nostalgia, I even pulled my Discman out of a bin so I could listen to the CD on my drive over to campus.

Thankfully for my sanity, but unfortunately for Pinebender, the drive from Harvard Square to Boston College doesn't take a full hour, so I still haven't been able to hear the album in its entirety. This situation doesn't mean I'm incapable of recommending the disc, however, as "Parade of Horribles" joins the list of stunning Pinebender openers, possibly even surpassing reigning champion "There's a Bag of Weights in the Back of My Car" from Things Are About to Get Weird. "Parade" infuses Pinebender's stock of monolithic riffs and glacial drumming ("drudge") with a blues-informed sense of heaviness, both in sonics and in lyrical content. It was hard not to think of the title and "Relive this / Every November" in a political context after voting, but the overwhelming, palpable sense of dread certainly isn't limited to my voting district. Between these fourteen minutes and the twelve minutes of Tungsten74's "Waltz," space may become precious on my year-end discs.

* This practice usually occurs as follows: Enjoy album, see if vinyl is forthcoming, wait for vinyl release if possible, purchase in store if available, wait for large order from Parasol if it's not. I almost picked up Nina Nastasia's On Leaving LP in addition to the Pinebender CD, but decided to wait until I also grab both Norfolk and Western releases from this year on vinyl, Paik's Magnesium Fire DVD, Chin Up Chin Up's This Harness Can't Ride Anything, and the new Isis full-length LP. Sounds like it will be an expensive post-Christmas order.