Pitchfork

There's a lot to mention about Southend, England-based Kafka fans These New Puritans' "Navigate, Navigate" other than its length. But it's really, really long. In 15-plus minutes, the track twists gnashing electric guitar, spacey synths, tape loops, stereo-panned clusters of relentless percussion, and cryptic, Fujiya & Miyagi-meet-Futureheads incantations into something that's difficult and exhilarating to, uh, navigate (just kidding about the "uh", I totally planned that needlessly elaborate metaphor). The track was apparently made for a 2007 catwalk show in Paris; I hope Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno character was there to get mind-fucked.

A bleary electronic hum sets things up, followed by what could almost be its own abstract two-minute song, all jumpy harmonies and forceful, mechanical post-punk dynamics. With, oh, six minutes to go, the track hits a high point as the guitars launch into a ringing crescendo and two male voices interchange intricately-- surely it's going to have to go back to the earlier dissonance soon. It doesn't: The guitars regain their earlier urgency, yeah, but the whole arrangement keeps turning in slightly new directions. The vocals repeat the same words-- "you know, you know," and "motionless, motionless"... I think?-- and the instruments, while only barely seeming to change at any given moment, somehow shift just enough to maintain their Liars-like hypnotic spell. Then it all stops. The 12" also features a remix by the Loving Hand (aka the DFA's Tim Goldsworthy).

[from the "Navigate, Navigate" 12"; due 02/05/08; the full-length Beat Pyramid is due 03/18/08; both on Domino]