Montreal\u2019s dukes of distorted disco, aRTIST oF tHE yEAR, have made an artform out being cleverly obtuse, because, well\u2026 technically speaking, you can\u2019t go overboard if overboard is where you started. The principle has served them well for a decade and half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019re no strangers to a certain amiable belligerence, and it\u2019s there in bulk on the fourth single from AOTY subsidiary project The Poors, a ridiculously catchy act of auditory vandalism. The previous jams \u2013 \u201cCity Boys\u201d, Hood\u201d, \u201cMasters of Make Believe\u201d \u2013 enticed with inventive, grooving electro-rock, but it feels like a set-up now, leading the listener into a dark alleyway where the bass guitar on \u201cDrop the Mic\u201d beats the shit out of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind that abusive bass is what seems like a sleazy, four-way make-out session between glam rock, electroclash, stoner boogie and seditious punk. It\u2019s kinda hard to pinpoint, however, when one is in a fetal crouch on the floor, getting kicked in the head by the low end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though it concludes with a decisive crunch, \u201cDrop the Mic\u201d isn\u2019t a mic-drop for The Poors. Once recovered, the listener may be pleased, if a little wary, to know that a fifth single is on its way, with an EP to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n