Expanding Program launches the Saskatoon group's gothic post-punk into a sci-fi dystopian future that may not be far off. On these slow-burning mini-epics, spectral ambience inspired by The Cure is fused with the chiming dissonance of early Sonic Youth, the deadpan drama of Nico's The Marble Index, and the nuclear war paranoia of This Heat. The album's morbid lyrics conjure a society of "Mars" under military control, lingering evil in the Twin Peaks referencing "BOB", and the scorched earth of "The End" eliminating all suffering forever - before the explosive release of 12-minute closer "Clone" returns to a final moment of uncertain calm.
