Instantly recognizable and relentlessly inventive don’t typically go hand in hand, but SUUNS have somehow managed it. The quartet of Ben Shemie, Joe Yarmush, Liam O’Neill and Max Henry turned heads with their abrasive and inventive 2010 debut, and they’ve kept them spinning ever since. In the 14 years since, the group (now officially a trio, though Henry still contributes to recordings) haven’t just refined their sound, they’ve continually reinvented it, experimenting with new sonic textures, dissolving musical structures, and pushing at the boundaries of what could generously be called a pop song.

Given the distance between the punk energy of their early releases and the deliberate minimalism of The Witness, what is it that makes SUUNS so distinctive? In a large part it’s Shemie’s vocals, recognizable even behind a mask of autotune. There are common threads in the music—the wiry guitars, hypnotic synths, the industrial drums that are threatening and danceable all at once. Those elements reappear, but they’re raw materials, things to be dismantled, distorted, and reassembled, never something to be precious about.

More than anything, though, you know SUUNS from the atmosphere. Their music is a world in itself, hazy, overcast, and sinister even in the moments that the light shines through. And wherever you find yourself in that world, it sounds like no one else.

– Peter Hemminger