Review: Tri-coastal rock quartet, Mamalarky, luxuriates in genre-blending maximalism with new record Hex Key, an incredibly strong evolution for the band’s sound.

Hex Key, the latest record from Tri-coastal rock quartet Mamalarky, sees the syncretic indie powerhouse luxuriating in genre-blending maximalism. In contrast to the low fidelity bedroom trappings which textured previous projects such as their threadbare 2020 self-titled debut or 2022’s “Pocket Fantasy”, here we see every individual feature of the band’s sound cranked up to its logical heights. Noor Khan’s bass, Livvy Bennett’s vocals, Michael Hunter’s keys and production, Dylan Hill’s drums - all are socketed carefully into place and wound up like clockwork. 

Mamalarky’s strongest preoccupations are kineticism and disconcerting speed - we’re lifted up on shimmering stratospheric highlights like “The Quiet” and the titular “Hex Key”, hang-glided down slide-whistling heights on “Take Me”, and electrocuted by Hunter’s keys closing “Blush”. In contrast to previous Mamalarky projects we’re never really allowed a landing from which to survey where we’ve been, and this creates a more frantic overall vibe. This is maybe best exhibited on the punchy “#1 Best of All Time”, with Bennet’s vocals racing in and out of fractal mandala synths over a sturdy bass pulse. In between echoes of Crumb and Unknown Mortal Orchestra (and occasional shades of Hiatus Kaiyote), we’re presented with a lyrical blend of rosy longing (“The pang of wonder, hard to name”) and clear-eyed optimism (“What comes down must always go back up”) that curls into a hopeful, if somewhat solemn question mark on “Here Everything”, the album’s off-ramp. 

“Hex Key” is a product of ambitious (and rigorous) construction - it frames and encases the band’s signature dynamic bounce with squeaky clean production, and we inherently lose some warmth from that. For a band who reaches profound heights when inhabiting a kind of sea-sick motion and general meditative unease, the thick coat of polish on much of the instrumentation can feel somewhat insincere. The dorm-room-riff foundation of “Anhedonia” feels made solely to topple over into the stained glass synth that rounds out its edges. The pounding righteous anger which radiates on “MF” (“No more options, commit arson”) comes off as more of a feasibility study than an integrated piece of the project. 

Photo: Sam Kapoor

Mamalarky are experts at dancing between complexity and efficiency, and “Hex Key” feels like a fundamentally new approach to that dance. On a more meta level perhaps this is an inventive new variation on Mamalarky’s core themes. We’re made to explore the dissonance created by bundling their textured chaos into a shiny new mechanical container, compared with the more subdued analog warmth that characterizes much of their discography. Regardless of the occasionally uncanny packaging, this project is an incredibly strong evolution for the band’s sound. 

At first glance “Hex Key” can seem like a machine bolted down a little too tightly. Upon further examination we see the bolts are loosened just enough to let a little light in.