Ladder Match by Chestnut: Album Review

by Damien Reid November 21, 2022

November 21, 2022

Ladder Match by Chestnut: Album Review

The album “Ladder Match” is a crazy experimental album, distributed across 14 singles. When Chestnut initially released their new album trailer on YouTube, a month ago, it got me creeped out and yet anticipating its release.

Just like the eerie, skeleton-dancing trailer and their font had set the scene for it, the album is absolutely creepy, filled with surprises of experimental alt-rock, lo-fi sounds, and experimental Halloween numbers. Tracks like “Botched Spot” and the ending of the final track will make you feel like you’re being abducted by aliens and then “Larry’s Nightmare” sounds like I’ve sleep-walked and suddenly woken up to find myself witnessing a cult being in their natural state underneath a basement that I just can’t get out of. Thankfully, a lot of these are short, otherwise, I couldn’t have survived the creepy soundscapes of “The Fink Who Saw Death”, “Dead Anthem”, “You Guys Are So Immature” and “Bizarro”. There’s something unsettling about that last track, which sounds like a distorted soundtrack that plays in a haunted house that’s trapped you indefinitely. I know what you’re thinking, these tracks would be perfect for a horror movie, or a Halloween party, and certainly not for the faint of heart. I won’t argue!

Want to know the people behind this experimental project? Two artists, Christina Santa Cruz and Daniel Watkins, are the duo who are on a quest to merge American “classic rock” with ambient music and elements of harsh noise combining implied stories.