Right Hand Left Hand return from obscurity with their second self-titled album; the follow up to 2011’s Power Grab elaborates on their particular brand of looped guitar rock. The Welsh duo have certainly been busy over the past four years, touring with the likes of Los Campesinos!, Super Furry Animals, and Future of the Left. They’ve been sitting on this material for long enough, letting it stew and mature, and this comes through in the tracks.

It’s incredible how much swirling chaos two people alone can create. Opening track ‘Seat 18c’ starts off in a rock and roll minimalist style, building up each layer gradually, easing the listener in with each new riff and drum loop. Then there are tracks like ‘The Milgram Experiment’, which kick off with an entirely desperate whirlwind of feedback and cymbals, deceiving you entirely as it moves on into a more restrainedly frustrated riff that you could imagine Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless crooning over.

With only one song on the album that actually contains any lyrics, the other ten songs build on each other to envision a dystopian future. The beauty of an almost purely instrumental album is that it feeds the listener a feeling, but leaves the rest up to them. No dictating your response with lyrics; instead, the way is left open for the listener to choose in which direction the track should progress. The band have previously noted that their decision to exclude vocals is based on the fact that they view them as an entirely separate instrument, one more difficult to manipulate and adapt than a loop station, although they don’t actively shy away from them.

Even if you are initially hesitant about an all guitar, all looped, all instrumental album, let Right Hand Left Hand wash over you and convince you otherwise.

Jemima Skala