The Bad Penny (beta)

To the extent that “math rock” suggests playing guitar notes perfectly and usually one note at a time, some weight could be given to the otherwise esoteric term. The repeated usage of it to describe Don Caballero guitarist Ian Williams’ one-handed finger-tapping technique must’ve driven him close to losing his mind.

Nonetheless, Mirrored is essential listening and studying for every aspiring guitarist seeking to adopt a classic indie mid-aughts sound—and it’s the only Battles LP that warrants that distinction, as the band then pivoted to embrace collaborations with guest vocalists and shot into experimental zones distant from their first record’s groundbreaking aesthetic. 

The full review of Mirrored is in Treble‘s tremendous new feature, The Best Albums of the 21st Century: Reinventing the Riff.

Find more on Battles on Bandcamp.

This entry was posted on 09/21/2026 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Album Reviews, Features, Reviews with tags Battles, John Stanier. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.