Three seconds into Surface’s penultimate track, Renminbi has already pitted a Polvo guitar wobble against a sing-song Galaxie 500 melody. Keyboardist SMV and guest drummer Jenny Johnson sound like they’re winding down from a twenty-minute dirge, and guitarist Lisa Liu sings with Tara Jane O’Neil’s woozy assurance.

But this song isn’t a half-hour epic. It doesn’t anchor an album by Sonic Youth or Mogwai—although Youth cohort and producer Don Fleming was at its helm. It clocks in at just over four minutes. And although it’s called “Set-Up,” it starts in medias res and ends with a feedback whine. Like the other three songs comprising Surface, its terseness belies its keening arc.

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