Prinzhorn Dance School members Tobin Prinz and Suzi Horn survey a bleak landscape of both personal and social significance in these tracks, echoing the early work of Young Marble Giants and Gang of Four (at least philosophically). Austere beats and starved (but effective) melodic lines bear the weight of the songs’ seething, conflicted lyrics, which are delivered in unison by Prinz and Horn with a tense edge. Tracks like “The Flora and Fauna of Britain in Bloom” and “Sing Orderly” have political implications in their biting portraits of withered gardens and bland consumer products. “Seed, Crop, Harvest” is a particularly stinging denunciation of class inequality and urban decay. Moving to more intimate matters, Prinz and Horn examine love’s constricting effects in “I Want You” and “Crisis Team.” Snaking guitar lines and disorienting cross rhythms add to the album’s nervous atmosphere. Both the opening track (“Happy in Bits”) and the closing tune (“Shake the Jar”) offer hope for resistance against oppressive forces, making Clay Class more than an angst-filled cry in the wilderness.