Intense and disorienting,
Stop It's
Self Made Maps takes the shouted vocals of early
Fugazi and melds them with propulsive dark wave music that shifts from frantic and unrelenting to melodic and stoned. In this respect, songs like "Name + Number" seem closest, at least in mood and style, to
Sonic Youth (circa
Daydream Nation) on a
Minor Threat kick. It's a unique take on hardcore -- one that, like
Fugazi, manages to escape the trappings of the genre by producing something that eschews its conventions.
Self Made Maps is not a perfect album, but it is so overflowing with aggressive energy, ominous moods, and spiraling complex progressions that it hints at
Stop It's potential to be the next
At the Drive-In: uncompromising, difficult, and willing to experiment.