With its mischievous chords and rhythmic horseplay, it's almost too easy to call Athens, GA's Art Contest a math rock band. There's something about Math Major, their first full-length, that resists this limiting label—something that's difficult to pin-point.

Maybe it's the album's endearing lo-fi quality, which seems to muffle the Cole Monroe's wiggling guitars on songs like "Banana Boat" and subdue drummer Garrett Burke's more frenetic rhythms, including those on "Misty Flip" and "Riff Raff." In effect, Math Major feels more like a jazz record than an emo one, though they're more likely to be lumped into the latter.

Maybe it's that the band sometimes decides to slow down. Songs like "Jungle Book" thrum softly, blooming in soft bursts at the end of each phrase. Others, like "Bed Time", sway slowly, but swell into looming landscapes; during its chorus, Aaron Burke's bass rolls back and forth in the background, adding depth as Monroe's bright guitar, sticky with reverb, shimmers beneath his soaring voice.

Or maybe it's that Math Major expresses energy without succumbing to aggression or arrogance. Whatever it is, Art Contest reaches well-beyond the boundaries of math rock—and emo, and jazz—to realms were few bands have the ability to tread.

Georgia-based math rockers Art Contest have laid down a fresh coat of paint and a sharp sense of urgency on Fit Pitcher — the band’s first new record in nearly three years.

After their 2017 sophomore LP Two Songs gained attention from Stereogum, GoldFlakePaint and BalconyTV, founding member Garrett Burke departed to become the drummer of rising intrastate outfit Mothers — leaving Art Contest frontman Cole Monroe at a crossroads.

Rather than staying put, he decided to graduate from the college scene of Athens and head for the brighter lights of Atlanta. Monroe continued making changes by growing the lineup that was once a duo into a full-fledged four-piece for the band’s third album Fit Pitcher — an explosive avant pop storm with a psychedelic surge à la Devo, Miike Snow, and Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Kicking off a new era for Art Contest, Fit Pitcher officially arrives on November 6th via Sludge Country. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.