There are 30 seconds that I repeatedly play on this record, where Nic Barbeln‘s voice becomes disembodied as he hollers along to a suave, electro-funk groove fuming out of a ghetto blaster. It‘s a profoundly psychedelic moment, one that makes you feel grateful just for being alive. Elsewhere on this disc, Oakland‘s Clipd Beaks dwells on dirges that lament life in Bush‘s America. They deliver an impressive take on hymnal post-rock that works the same graveyard shift as Joy Division and Unwound, as clearly heard on “Nuclear Arab” and “No Horizons.” When a sublime sheen of guitar sound engulfs “Messed Up Desert” and the following “Hash Angels,” the band takes things far beyond the regular scope of a Tigerbeat6 record. The often-muddled vocals on Preyers may occasionally distract, but Clipd Beaks‘ debut still shows great promise.