Rx Bandits

To review the Rx Bandits is really just to remark on the conspicuously large set of balls this band collectively runs around with. But opening your newest album with a multilayered a cappella snippet? That’s just straight-up elephantitis, guys. Singer/songwriter Matt Embree and company never rest on their laurels; while they’ve been taken for a mostly ska act, each successive release has pushed the restrictions of any predetermined style further and further away. … And the Battle Begun challenges your ears in the best way possible, with shifting time signatures, wildly varying moods and general chaotic genius. Countless experimental bands mine similar “anything goes, so long as its good” territory, but rarely has this boundary-pushing been so refreshing.