RIYL: Deerhoof, Bush Tetras, Kleenex/Liliput, Delta 5, Pylon, Y Pants, Liquid Liquid, Sex Clark Five, Grass Widow, Palberta. After introducing themselves to the world with 2016's "Borrowed Floors" (Water Wing) and throwing down the gauntlet with 2018's "Mating Surfaces" on Kill Rock Stars, Lithics make the jump to Trouble In Mind for "Tower of Age". "Tower of Age" bristles with invention, wedging lyrical Dadaism into right angles of rhythmic minimalism. This is music in ellipses. A circular communication and a fusion of decades worth of musical insight into a singular refraction of thought & sound. Guitars plunk and scratch, and rhythms pulse and syncopate tightly wound around an imagist's philosophy to "use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation." The band's austere approach to composition and wordplay elevates them above and beyond bands seeking similar sounds; it's not that they use less; it's HOW they use less.