Last year’s Fake Sigils was an engaging slice of glassy post-rock but Pittsburgher Mike Layton’s latest outing as Expires — titled No New Futures, and out Tuesday —
has a new target altogether: the acoustic guitar. The unamplified approach does wonders for the six-stringer, lending his melancholy figures and descents shades both
of David Grubbs and, perhaps, Sir Richard Bishop at his more subdued. A song like “Emblem Glyph,” the closer, could teach local band Broughton’s Rules a thing or two
about post-rock mystery. Ultimately, much of the material hangs together well, suggesting a black sky rather than one patched with clouds. For a name-your-own price
download on Bandcamp, you can’t go wrong. – Justin Vellucci, Swordfish, Dec. 20, 2018
