Lava Land

Piglet

Piglet were a short-lived math rock band from Chicago and their only real release was 2005's Lava Land. Despite only being together for a short time, this EP is regarded as one of the best math rock releases of all time. I can certainly see why as there's tons of hyper-active drumming and nimble guitar noodling across the EP's six tracks. The production and mixing is also super clean which is important for music of this genre considering how intricate everything is. It is not uncommon for all instruments to be off doing their own thing and, therefore, it is important that there is separation and space between instruments to keep it from becoming a muddy mess.

Now, I enjoy lots of math rock but often my criticism is that they are usually so dense with guitar riffage that it almost becomes featureless in a way. To a certain extent, that criticism applies to this album as well. If a Piglet song were to randomly come on, I don't think I could even name the song since they all have such similar characteristics. One exception though is certainly the opening track Bug Stomp. The beginning of this track is dizzying with these fast guitar and bass tapping riffs. After this though is perhaps the catchiest riff on the entire record. Guitarist, Asher Weisberg, strums these sour sounding chords in the upper register and even though it's in an odd rhythm, it still feels very groovy and offers a little reprieve from the flurry of notes in the song's intro. If there was one thing Piglet was really good at, it was musical pacing; alternating between sections that were super flashy and more toned down melodic bits to give your brain a bit of a rest. For this reason, I would probably recommend this record as a good starter for anyone interested in getting into this type of music. Just be prepared for relentless riffs.