To try and place Four Stroke Baron neatly into a category of music is akin to trying to describe the Higgs field to a classroom full of ninth graders on the last day of school before summer break. 

The innovative and completely unhinged pairing of Kirk Witt (vocals, guitar) and Matt Vallarino (drums) combine to etch out Data Diamond (Prosthetic Records), a record which was originally meant to be two separate works – one geared more towards electronics, the other on the heavier side.

Therefore, what you get is actually a catatonic cesspool of creativity. Not to mention the duo work at insane paces on both sides of the spectrum throughout the release. Whatever you think Data Diamond may or may not be, you are both spot on and entirely off the mark. 

Take “Monday” for example. The vocals are as predictable as the stock market during the early stages of the pandemic. Chaotic, erratic and scrambling, the track overall goes from a category 5 hurricane to a sunny beach day at the drop of a hat. A crazy-as-fuck lazer effect somehow feels entirely at home nestled into this song.

Witt’s vocals morph into sounding like they’re floating on the surface of a lake (“Cyborg Pt. 3 (Because I’m God)”). And the genre-bending performance of “The Witch” sees the group dabble straight into Nu-Metal before switching over to poppy punk in the blink of an eye. Rife with very catchy antics throughout, there is also a hook line that is strikingly similar in sound and cadence to Good Charlotte’s “Victims Of Love.”

“Open The World” seems to be the prototypical electronics piece that belonged on Data had this combining of the two ideas not happened. The audio and vocal manipulation becomes a conspiratorial spy movie soundtrack. The identities taken on here are quite endless.

There are some nifty riffing and guitar lines (“People In My Image”) to appease the metal purists, but really, Data Diamond can appeal to such an array of fans of music. 

The brilliance of this ice-cream-covered-with-molasses juxtaposition never feels like a pair of artists struggling to find their way. Instead, this album reeks of two gents truly doing whatever the fuck they want while also knocking it out of the park with a wink and a smirk.

Buy the album here:
https://fourstrokebaron.bandcamp.com/album/data-diamond

8 / 10
MATT COOK