For their recently released second full-length, Cities of Glass, the members of AIDS Wolf, are “de-anchoring compositions,” as the Canadian noise-rocking outfit states in its official list of principles. This involves ditching the bass guitar, to focus on rhythm, and employing the creative use of silence to offset the band’s trademark near-abuse of guitars. Exemplifying this aesthetic, their disturbed single track, “Tied Up in Paper,” is flurry of screeching brutality with lead singer Chloe Lum’s demented moans leaving one to wonder whether she is being tortured or pleasured by the instrumental mess surrounding her. The song throbs, building climactically, then finally drops out abruptly, leaving the listener with a painful aural hard on. Lulu McAllister

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