Befitting an album featuring Ben Roth's first major creative output, Bod's EP, Party Drug, feels like it's crammed with ideas and off-kilter detours. "Gigantor" kicks off the album in a haze, before '70s prog-indebted guitars charge in. Tricky time signatures abound, lending a stop-start dynamic that challenges without taking away from the purely enjoyable drive of the songs. As a frontman, Roth's voice becomes more like just another instrument, awash in reverb as it softens the spikiness of the guitars. Party Drug is a great encapsulation of Roth's attitude: music for music's sake.
Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full interview with Ben Roth in the Music & Culture section.
BOD, w/ EZTV, Mega Bog, Black Wolf, 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 26, The New Frontier Lounge, 301 E. 25th St, Tacoma, $7, 253.572.4020