The sophomore album from Open Head, an experimental quartet from New Kingston, New York,  What Is Success draws from punk, noise, hip-hop and electronic music for these iconoclastic 11 tracks that are as interesting as they are atypical.

“Success” gets the listen off to an atmospheric start, where Dan Schwartz’s skilled drumming guides the manipulated voices and bouts of unusual grooves, and the more fragmented “Fiends Don’t Lose” follows with Jon McCarthy’s thick bass lines populating the avant-garde version of rock.

Moving towards the middle, the post-punk flavored “Monotones” and driving melodies of “N.Y. Frills” illustrate a fluid collaboration between the quintet that’s more rock-focused. “*INOY” then gets quite animated and cinematic in its brief but impactful 34 seconds, while “Take It From Me” pushes and pulls with power and tension.

The start of the back half is populated by the scrappy, club friendly dynamics of “House,” as well as the dance floor backdrop of the stylish and off kilter “Bullseye.”

Deeper yet, the dueling guitars from Jared Ashdown and Brandon Minervini make a hypnotic moment across “Julo,” but it’s the haunting ambience of the abstract “Palace Quarters” that you won’t be able to turn away from. The album exits with “Catacomb,” which is full of thick guitars, frisky drums and reverberating voices from Ashdown and Minervini that build into a dense and busy finish.

A really fascinating record that touches on architecture, holography and industrialism, What Is Success possesses a rare, sonic appeal that borrows from the templates of the past, but is quite modern in its colorful, no wave-fueled approach that just might make this one of the year’s best albums.

Oh, and great cover art to boot, plus two different colors of wax available for the record nerd types among us.

Rating: A

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