Place Position: Went Silent: Limited Edition Black Vinyl LP

Limited Edition Black Vinyl LP

"Here we are with Place Position, a trio from Dayton, Ohio evidently named after a Fugazi song, and who make music one might expect a trio evidently named after a Fugazi song to make. Aside from a three-song single in 2020, Place Position had been pretty quiet since their first album, but the dozen-year wait for Place Position LP2 has finally ended with Went Silent. Those paying attention are rewarded with ten slow-moving but still frequently fiery post-hardcore/post-punk songs well-versed in the intricacies of the history of Dischord Records and its flagship bands; while it’s not as zen-like as Lungfish (or their best modern analogue, Vulture Feather), it does sound like a record that has benefited from its creators getting long(er) in the tooth.

Like many a great Dischord record, however, Went Silent is also sneakily quite weird and subversive–this is apparent from the tense atmospheres propping up “Camber” in the first half, and it really comes to a head near the center of the album with strange art punk tangents “Buy Here, Pay Here” and “NO401OK”. Most everything on Went Silent is, to some degree, a “rocker”, but it’s to Place Position’s credit that they have a pretty wide-ranging and open attitude as to how (and when and where) to do that. If you want to know how to make music like this for the better part of twenty years, Place Position have put on a pretty good demonstration on keeping it fresh with Went Silent."

-Rosy Overdrive