Climbing into the future on a mathy spiral of guitar and drum rushes, Vancouver based duo Mi’ens tap into their surroundings and go widescreen on their third proper release. The guitar squalls of tracks like “French Disko” recall the towering density of Daydream Nation and Sonic Youth’s New York, but Vancouver is no such place – it’s a city where glassy towers and concrete are only minor intrusions on big skies and mountain vistas. Mi’ens swirl that energy into bigger picture perspective here, glancing to Iceland’s Rift Valley (a meeting place between tectonic plates and the site of early parliament) to mark seismic geological and political shifts (“Rifft Valley”) while “Charge Dodger” chugs along a doomier path, only to corrode and collapse as if too corrupt for its own good.

– Tom Beedham