Consumables is a new NYC-based four piece art punk band consisting of Kyle Crew (vocals, guitar), Miles Fox (vocals,bass, synth) Hector Guillen (drums), and Dylan Joyce (guitar). The group’s members all come from very different backgrounds; Kyle is from the unlikely rock breeding ground of Arkansas and Hector grew up in Panama where he earned his rhythmic chops playing progressive rock. Miles’ synth pop gems are the perfect foil to Kyle’s rock tracks, is originally from Seattle, and new member Dylan (from Brooklyn’s Balaclava) is from Massachusetts. Their debut album Infinite Games was produced and co-written by Ben Hozie of BODEGA and engineered and mixed by Adam Sachs (Wives, Diary).

Their breezy debut is a concept record inspired by James P. Carse’s book “Finite and Infinite Games.” Finite games have boundaries, rules, and clear winners and losers. Infinite games have no winner; the goal is to simply continue the play. “Relationships are a key example of infinite games. So much unnecessary suffering happens when a person plays a finite game in an infinite game scenario (or vice versa)” explains vocalist Kyle Crew. 

The LP starts off with a reflection of Kyle’s six month incarceration (marijuana conviction) in “Keys to the Cell” before segueing into the suicidal ideation of “Dry Rot.” The societal pressure of force-feeding your presence via social media is grooved in “Great Design” where Miles takes over lead vocals. The psych-skate punk prog diptych of “Messages / Lost in Translation” laments the fundamentals of communication breaking down and “Ten Toes Down” is a tender ballad devoted to keeping the play of a romantic relationship alive. Standout “Emotional Speedball” is a synth pop anthem on the highs and lows of lust. 

The earworm-y angst of the album culminates with an epiphany in the title track “Infinite Games.” (“What was once known, now is felt”). The band takes flight with a euphoric singalong jam (“I feel limitless/ this is what freedom is”) that evokes the peak of a psychedelic experience. This musical open-heartedness expresses the limitlessness felt when a relationship is played with an infinite mindset.

CONSUMABLES