Wreck And Reference - Indifferent Rivers Romance End

Wreck and Reference formed in 2011 and recorded their first EP, Black Cassette, in a garage, drawing upon the blown out intensity of black metal and the angularity of noise rock, with themes of determinism and Cormac McCarthy-esque isolation. Instead of guitars, the instrumentation on Black Cassette was constructed of samples played through distorted amplifiers. In 2012, their debut full length Y̶o̶u̶t̶h̶ represented a dramatic expansion of their sonic palette. In deeper, darker tones, Y̶o̶u̶t̶h̶ was a reflection on the opposing forces of dismissal and longing for both the past and the future, questioning the value of the life lived and life that is still to come. These sounds and themes were pushed further in Wreck and Reference’s second full length Want in 2014. Described by Pitchfork as having “radical vision” and “boundless experimentation,” Want expanded into a darker and more brooding territory, plumbing the depths of isolation, sadness, and hopelessness, as if written from inside a room with only a dimming window into a perfectly callous world. In contrast to Wreck and Reference’s past work, Indifferent Rivers Romance End is an album that allows the possibility of change, even the necessity of it, when the self comes to face the inevitability of continued life amidst the construction and destruction of relationships. The cover depicts a statue of Heraclitus, the tearful Ancient Greek herald of change, tied to a brick and drowned in a river of liquor and dirt.