Basement Membranes - EP

iTunes Review

The Washington, D.C.-based trio True Womanhood manages to both tease and please on their debut EP Basement Membranes. Building their songs around clattering rhythms and ghostly drones, they achieve a sense of dream-pop grandeur while retaining a lo-fi charm. Noam Elsner’s junkyard percussion attack and Thomas Redmond’s angular, vinegar-dipped guitar lines are steadied by Melissa Beattie’s resolute bass work. The group delights in tossing spiky curveballs into even straightforward tunes, lending tracks like “Shadow People” and “Rubber Buoys” a nervous, unpredictable twitch. “Magic Child” is a dose of punk/jazz neurosis, while “The Monk” manages to twinkle as it throbs. Though there are no conventional “hits” here, “A Diviner” approaches mainstream appeal with its yearning melody and martial drum undercurrent. Much in the manner of early Sonic Youth, True Womanhood delights in provoking the listener, refusing to get comfortable with their music. This playfully subversive quality makes Basement Membranes at once disturbing and refreshing.