ALBUM REVIEW: Stuck – Optimizer

The dormant gears of Chicago’s post-punk stalwarts have finally ground back into motion. Following a three-year break, Stuck return with Optimizer, a record that suggests the only way to navigate a collapsing world is to lean into its jagged edges.

Clocking in at a lean, economical 34 minutes, the band don’t waste a single second of the listener’s time to get their message across, trading the safety of their earlier work for a high-tension, precision-engineered attack.

Production-wise, Optimizer strikes a brilliant balance between the grit of a basement DIY show and the tactile sheen of a modern studio. It avoids clinical sterility, opting instead for a sound that is both fuzzy and polished; like chrome-plated machinery coated in a fine layer of soot. The guitars are jagged and pervasive, pushing through the mix with a caffeinated urgency, while Greg Obis’s vocals carry an instructional authority. Admittedly, Obis’s somewhat urgent vocal delivery might not be for everyone. This is most evident on the frantic “Less Is More”, where the delivery is so insistent it feels as though the listener is being physically compelled to absorb the song’s message.

What separates Stuck from their contemporaries is a rhythmic complexity that never sacrifices raw energy. While most modern bands drift into predictable patterns, the intricate time signatures of “Instakill” and “Net Negative” showcase a band operating on a higher plane. It is a muscular display of musicianship where every instrument, from the syncopated basslines to the driving drums, claims its own essential space.

The album refuses to be top-heavy, offering ten tracks that each pulse with the potential of a lead single. You can practically hear friends arguing on a late-night train about which cut reigns supreme. “Totally Vexed” and “Sicko” serve as potent re-introductions to the band’s twitchy DNA, while “Deadlift” and “It Isn’t” offer biting, cynical critiques wrapped in high-octane arrangements.

Optimizer is a high-voltage album that avoids the typical traps of a third record by doubling down on intensity. It is the sound of a band rediscovering their spark and weaponising it, leaving a trail of scorched earth in its wake.