Typhoon’s Newest Epic Is a Bombastic, Rapturous Exploration of Mental Illness

As fans have come to expect, "Offerings" is a vigorously pummeling experience.

Typhoon

Typhoon, Offerings (Roll Call)

[ORCHESTRAL MANEUVERS] Typhoon's Kyle Morton must compose bombastic rock symphonies as easy as most of us breathe. For his band's fourth proper LP—and first in five years—he's written a four-act epic following a protagonist throughout a mental breakdown, from the onset of psychosis to resolution. As fans have come to expect, it's a vigorously pummeling experience. From the moment the Fellini-quoting chants on opening track "Wake" fade out, an onslaught with little reprieve begins. Plaintive, desperate vocals and manic downstroke strumming start "Remember," a tune encapsulating all of Offerings' best moves into one key track. String sections swell, luscious guitar arpeggios twinkle and euphoria sets in just as Shannon Steele's feminine soprano safely places you back on terra firma. The strings are particularly sweet throughout, woven into the sprawl with a grace that perfectly reinforces some of the subtler melodic shifts that would otherwise get drowned out by sheer volume. The best example of just how ingratiating Typhoon manages to be comes at the close of "Adriadne," when Morton dryly recites the tail end of the song's lyrics in an earnest deadpan, sounding like he's reciting dialogue to a movie no one's ever seen. It's a bit confusing, but it gets a pass because it's bookended by a masterpiece on both ends. That's the kind of album this is—you end up shrugging off what you don't immediately understand, because the bulk of what you've heard has already catapulted you into rapturous bliss.

SEE IT: Typhoon plays Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., with Wild Ones and Amenta Abioto, on Friday, Feb. 23. 9 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. All ages. Get tickets here.

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