Vundabar precisionly remove the guts of indie rock on Surgery And Pleasure, then put it all back together for an undeniable monster of an album.
For over a decade, Vundabar have been the scrappy underdogs of indie rock, writing angular, hook-heavy anthems that refuse to sit still. On their sixth album, Surgery And Pleasure, the Boston-bred trio sharpen their sound into its most urgent and visceral form yet. Throughout 11 songs, they twist post-punk, math-rock, surf-guitar, and jangle-pop into a tight, kinetic force, proving that their signature brand of controlled chaos is as electrifying as ever.
“Surgery And Pleasure is a more mature synthesis of all the stuff we’ve explored before,” Hagen says of the album’s fusion of old-school Vundabar energy with a newfound muscularity and slickness. “In a way it feels like a return. It’s grownup Vundabar.”
Formed in the early 2010s by Brandon Hagen (guitar, vocals) and Drew McDonald (drums), later joined by Zack Abramo (bass), Vundabar first made their mark in underground clubs, where their frenetic live energy became legend. That wired intensity still courses through Surgery And Pleasure, but there’s a newfound precision to the band’s attack where every jagged riff and explosive drum fill hits like it’s exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Hagen’s vocals oscillate between sardonic detachment and feisty urgency, lending the songs a restlessness that mirrors the push-pull of their sound. The band thrives on contrast, one moment they’re riding a tidal wave of grunge scuzz, the next they’re slipping into jittery, math-rock intricacies before launching back into a surf-inflected groove. The result is an album that feels both carefully pieced together yet effortlessly energetic.