Battles - Juice B Crypts (2LP) - 45RPM

Battles hit a strange, joyful stride on Juice B Crypts, released October 18, 2019 by Warp Records. It arrived as their first full-length as a duo, with Ian Williams and John Stanier carrying the torch after Dave Konopka’s departure in 2018, and it feels like a decisive pivot. The music is still all clockwork tension, bright loops, and that signature drum authority, but there’s a new gleam to it, a city-light shine. They once built labyrinths out of math-rock riffs. Here they slice, splice, and rewire ideas like a DJ crew that grew up on Steve Reich, Liquid Liquid, and old video game cartridges.

The record wastes no time showing its hand. A Loop So Nice..., a quick, teasing prelude, tumbles straight into They Played It Twice, and the title is the gag and the method. It’s playful but not flimsy, thanks to Stanier’s hard, athletic snare and Williams’ cut-glass keys. Xenia Rubinos slips into the mix and turns repetition into hook, almost like she’s daring the loop to find new shapes under her phrasing. This is the trick of the album in miniature. The band’s old knotty bravado is still there, but the palette has been refreshed, more neon than chrome.

Juice B Crypts is packed with guests, and the features feel purposeful, even historic in one case. IZM brings in Shabazz Palaces, whose syllables bounce off the duo’s stuttering synth architecture as if they were designed for it. Sal Principato of the legendary New York outfit Liquid Liquid appears on Titanium 2 Step, which lands like a one-city family reunion. Principato’s rallying vocal tic and hand-percussion vibe pull a direct line from downtown post-punk to Battles’ hypermodern pulse. Tune-Yards help close the curtain on Last Supper on Shasta, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2, two tracks that function like a funhouse mirror, their vocal layers tugging the rhythmic center around while Stanier holds the ground with a clean, piston-like groove.

The title track might be the best distillation of this era of the band. It’s shiny and busy, built from clipped motifs that stack and refract until your ear settles into the pattern like focusing on a Magic Eye. Fort Greene Park, named for the Brooklyn landmark, eases the tempo just enough to let all that circuitry breathe. It’s not a ballad, it’s a scenic overlook, the sort of track you put on while walking through the neighborhood that gave it its name. Hiro 3 pushes the other way, a jittery, almost arcade-like sprint that reminds you Williams’ keyboard rig can be as feral as any guitar pedal chain.

Listening front to back, you can hear how deliberately they’ve framed New York. In interviews around release, Williams talked about the city’s density shaping both the writing and the structure, and you can feel that grid under the songs. This isn’t nostalgia for their Mirrored days or a retread of Gloss Drop. It’s a lively reorientation, the work of two musicians who know exactly where their strengths live. Stanier’s drums are recorded with a crisp, metallic snap that makes every snare accent count. Williams loops, chops, and harmonizes in a way that turns a two-piece into a small orchestra without hiding behind haze.

Critics picked up on this charge. The album drew broadly positive notes for its tight, high-energy sequencing and its smart use of collaborators, and fans quickly anointed They Played It Twice, IZM, and Titanium 2 Step as standouts in the live set. It also slots neatly into the Battles discography as the fourth studio album, a succinct answer to anyone worried about how the band would evolve as a duo.

If you’re crate-digging, Juice B Crypts vinyl is the way to hear how these interlocking patterns bloom in space. The low end sits firm, the cymbals don’t smear, and those glassy arpeggios feel almost tactile. I found my copy at a Melbourne record store while passing through on tour, and it has become the version I reach for when friends ask where to start with Battles vinyl. If you prefer to buy Battles records online, stock isn’t hard to find, and it’s worth browsing the various pressings if you’re collecting Battles albums on vinyl. Even shops that specialise in vinyl records Australia tend to keep Warp titles in rotation, which says something about how well this album has traveled.

Juice B Crypts is the sound of Battles tightening their circle and inviting others into it. It’s precise but lively, dense yet lithe, and generous in the way great city records are. Drop the needle, let the loops fold in on themselves, and you’ll hear two players having a conversation that keeps opening new doors.