Consuming the Tangible

Population II may have come to my attention via Jon Dwyer and Castleface Records (is that even still a thing? What happened?), but in the time since discovering 2020’s Á la Ô Terre, I’ve been steadily keeping track of how the group bend the sounds of psychedelia, krautrock, electronica, synthwave (ugh, I know), all the way up to modern composition, into something so singular. The roaring collage of guitars started to take a backseat with last year’s Maintenant Jamais, and the Gimmicks EP accelerates the pace of electronic cinematic experimentation.

Bonsound’s physical edition (in transparent red) gets an added bonus of having 2024’s Serpent Échelle as a companion on the other side. No matter how you look at it, you’re getting some killer non-album tracks that speak volumes for the growth of the Montreal, Quebec band.

Whenever I try to describe what I’m looking for when I want to listen to electronic, ambient, synth wave — whatever you want to call it — opening track “Angélisme” weaves all the things together in a sinuous track that moves from arpeggiated ambience to more pulsing synthwave in a way I hardly notice when it happens, but so appreciate when it arrives.

Musically, it’s odd how seamlessly it connects to “Magouilleux,” yet the two are divided by the propulsive thrum of “Cha Cha les Mouillés.” Maybe you need that break, allow the theme to bake in your brain so when the group — composed of singer and drummer Pierre-Luc Gratton, guitarist and keyboardist Tristan Lacombe, and bassist Sébastien Provençal (yes, I took that direct from Wikipedia) — bring you back around, it triggers whatever chemical I wish my brain would produce more of.

Can you have a centerpiece to an album if said album is only 18 minutes long? If so, I nominate “Liaisons (450)” for really digging into the late ’60s German vibe. By the time of the circular droning twinkle of “Journée Gratis” I tend to hit the repeat button and let Gimmicks play again and again. It’s hypnotic, sonically lush, and never boring. I would say I miss the searing leads of songs like “Les Vents” from Á la Ô Terre, but I don’t. I have the record, and I can go back to it any time I want. EPs have always felt like the best place for musical exploration, and in the case of Population II, I’m happy to continue following along.