Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. – Chekhov

Colornoise describes its music as “experimental noise rock.” But Polychronic, their second LP, is not a random collection of weird sounds. The tracks are well-constructed, tightly-performed, and compelling.

It is easy to dismiss Colornoise (Sonya Carmona, guitar and lead vocals; Alison Alvarado, drums and vocals) as a monosexual version of White Stripes. Polychronic, though, sounds like the LP that would result if the B-52s’ Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson got really pissed off and locked the rest of the band out of the studio for a night.  This is not a “we just learned to play our instruments aren’t we cute” project. The musicianship has a neoclassical foundation, allowing the band to depart from traditional rock and pop song structures.  The only track that approaches the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus layout is the single, “Button.”

While “Button” may be the most accessible, user-friendly song on the album, other tracks are more adventuresome, and more interesting. “No Name” opens with the chopped chords of “London Calling,” transitions through multiple movements, and ends with the cadence of a drummer with mucho attitude.

None of the Polychronic tracks can be described as “catchy,” but that isn’t the point: this isn’t the Dum Dum Girls. You must engage your brain to hear these songs. And unlike most of today’s indie offerings, in which lo-fi hiss is used to mask a lack of musicianship, Polychronic has actual production values, courtesy producer/engineer Jesse Alvarado.

Polychronic and Fake Apocalypse, the first LP from Colornoise, are available for download on Bandcamp.