Band:	Bent Knee
Album:	You Know What They Mean
Style:	Experimental rock
Release date:	October 2019

01. Lansing
02. Bone Rage
03. Give Us The Gold
04. Hold Me In
05. Egg Replacer
06. Cradle Of Rocks
07. Lovell
08. lovemenot
09. Bird Song
10. Catch Light
11. Garbage Shark
12. Golden Hour
13. It Happens

How the fuck does one make such a weird album sound so fucking joyous?

You may remember when I reviewed Helium Horse Fly's recent album. I'm just bringing it up because Bent Knee's You Know What They Mean reminds me a lot of that album in its dark and versatile take on progressive almost but not really metal that is so weird and off-kilter that it falls in avant-garde territories. They also both have very electrifying vocal performances by two of the most talented women in the field. But as much as these two albums are alike, they feel like opposites of the same magnet (and by using that analogy I can no longer use "magnetic" to describe it without repeating myself) because Bent Knee is so fucking fun as much as it is menacing.

You Know What They Mean feels like it kicked down my door, thrust me out of bed, danced with me on a tune too fast for me to keep up to, yelled in my face, yelled out the window and jumped right out of it, all with a smile on its face. It also feels like it took the time to look at all the pictures and the books in my room, but sometimes with a menacing smile. Even in the more atmospheric or the more acoustic sections, this album does not lose any energy. It may take its time sometimes in those areas, but it's just charging up to maintain its electrifying feel. What is the best thing about this album is how it doesn't feel disjointed or forced in its attempt to always keep you on your toes, but it's channeled into something very engaging.

There are a lot of dynamics on the album, always moving from loud to quiet, or rather from really loud to somewhat quiet due to how the production makes the album sound, which doesn't exactly work in its advantage but isn't as damaging as it would be on other albums that don't work those dynamics as well. There's some live recordings thrown in as well that don't feel like they really had any place on the album, but other than that I can't really find any fault in the album. The constant weird feeling and the energy of the music, the occasional heaviness and the indie vibes with pop sensibilities often present, the unmistakable voice of Courtney Swain and the heavy layering, it never feels like the overly serious and mathematical music one would expect from a bunch of Berklee grads.

It's quite amazing how consistent Bent Knee is in channeling all of these different moods and keeping the album engaging and fun, with always a new layer to discover on every relisten. Heavy and soft, intricate and direct, enthralling and in-your-face.