Writhing Squares Scrape Away the “Dirt in My Mind’s Eye” (premiere)

The Philadelphia-based band Writhing Squares consists of Daniel Provenzano of Purling Hiss (among other groups) and Kevin Nickles of Ecstatic Vision and Taiwan Housing Project. Playing together over the past few years, Provenzano handles bass, Nickles handles saxophone and flute, and both take turns doing vocals, keyboards and percussion. Together they revolve in serrated circles, turning up and tuning into cosmic static like a Dark-Side-of-the-Moon Duo. “Dirt in My Mind’s Eye” is the lead-off track from Out of the Ether, their second album and first for the Chicago label Trouble in Mind. The song is a frayed, spacious and insistent tone-setter, appropriate enough for ringing in a 2019 that hasn’t offered much clarity yet.

Out of the Ether is out January 25th, and can be pre-ordered from the Trouble in Mind site and Writhing Squares’ own Bandcamp page.