Austin Sound

The precise relation of Listenlisten’s stunning new album to Rhodesia (the former name of Zimbabwe), I can’t say for sure; the Houston group’s relation to “hymns,” however, is studied at extraordinary length on “Hymns from Rhodesia,” an album at times eerily reminiscent of the meandering low-fi hymns one might find on an early Microphones record, and at other times narrowly avoiding all out disaster (but, you know, in a good way).

The haunting waltz “Prologue” briefly introduces us initially-naïve listeners to the gothic pastoral scene the album channels, followed immediately by the equally downbeat (and three-beat) “Funeral Dirge; Burial Service.” Immediately we feel like a lost band of travelers, stumbling in on unknown small-town horrors, the worst of which only begin with funerals. And it’s definitely raining at this point.

Perhaps the first thing that should be noted about ListenListen’s self-titled debut EP is that it is packaged on a wooden tile, branded with the name across the front. “In case of societal breakdown,” the liner notes read, “this sleeve may be used as kindling.” It seems an appropriate package and suggestion, for there is something both utilitarian and apocalyptic in the music of the Houston trio. Their progressive indie-folk may closest touch the aesthetic of groups like Pinetop Seven, where strings provide a flowing swell to harshly plucked banjos and eerily haunted rhythms and lyrics.