In 2026, there has been many a good post-rock act. So good in fact, that it wouldn’t have been complete without SQUANDERERS in it. This year alone, the trio of Wendy Eisenberg, David Grubbs and Kramer, each have carved out different paths aside from this project that has birthed three albums in as many years.
Grubbs, recently releasing his third collaboration alongside fellow experimental guitar veteran, Loren Connors (Somewhere in the Wind – Room40). Then there’s Kramer who, notwithstanding his swathe of solo releases, has done some collaborating of his own with Thurston Moore – the pair combining for the excellent They Came Like Swallows (Silver Current).
Meanwhile, Eisenberg has continued to broaden their horizons as wide as any artist in the experimental space. Earlier this year, emerging from the tangled guitars for a self-titled release of folkish country-inspired jams that hit in all the right places.
Among the trio’s busy schedules, there’s never a dull moment, and while the term supergroup could be considered grotesque (particularly in the realms of the underground), makes no bones about it: SQUANDERERS are premium grade. The trio’s third release, Bright Madness, undoubtedly their best, as they intersect post-rock and folk with deep-listening.
Bright Madness has the feel of a live record. It’s clear from the first notes of opening cut, Theme for Bright Madness – a searching improvisation that finds Eisenberg, Grubbs and Kramer feeling their way through the room in search of synergy. And it’s not long before they find it. Kramer’s bass echoes, leading Eisenberg and Grubbs into a noodling trade-off that untangles the knots in your mind.
SQUANDERERS - BRIGHT MADNESSOn Theme for the Casino at 5 A.M., once again Kramer guides the pair, this time to the metropolis of melody. And on Theme for a Soft Resolution and Theme for Femme-Presenting Hands, SQUANDERERS are completely immersed in it. These moments, akin to watching the sun creep over the horizon. (It may be the most accessible thing Grubbs has done since the days of Bastro.)
Theme for Whiskey the Turnspit Dog finds Eisenberg stamping their mark, with something that swells and throbs, reaching new corners. Not just for SQUANDERERS, but for each member in a singular sense in what is ultimately post-rock for roadhouses in the middle of nowhere.
And while Theme for Craned Necks is where post-rock and minimalism meet, it’s only a brief flash of the past. Theme for the World’s Consigliere, seeing the trio break into their stride. With organ chords simmering underneath the mix, Kramer’s deep, pulsing bass paves the way for Eisenberg and Grubbs’ guitar interplay to take flight. In the ensuing ether, Theme for the Glacier Within Him is where SQUANDERERS thrive. The beautiful sonic ebbs and flows, like an emotional rush harnessed purely through sound.
Album closer, Theme for Nihilogisms, moves further beyond. Spatial and elemental, layer upon layer washes over you like a mediation. Which is exactly what Bright Madness is. Its mediative echoes are to post-rock what Sunn O)))’s Life Metal is to drone. SQUANDERERS, the practitioners of something cerebral and profoundly hypnotic.
Bright Madness is an album that deserves so much more time than people have given it so far. Alongside Pullman, Black Duck and Elena Setién, it really is one of the great victories from the underground this year.
Bright Madness is out now via Blue Chopsticks. Purchase from Bandcamp.
