Following their subtly mystifying "Live from Devil's Den" CD on Mexico City's Pauf Recordings (2018), the NY/NJ-area trio of Matthew Friberg, John Friberg, and Daniel DiMaggio return to the, uh, studio (?), resulting in this beautifully packaged, letter-pressed long-player pieced together by splintered compositional dialogue, head-scratching room sounds and quietly scuffling non-music (ultimately leaning closer to the work of Car Commercials than that of Home Blitz, for those of you interested in this due to DiMaggio's involvement)... "This is the first full length LP by Shots, a project which has existed publicly through recordings and performance since 2015. Private Hate stands apart from previous works as an encapsulation of a pivotal stage in the group’s development, pushing towards an emphasis on events, movement, and locations presented as a challenge for the listener to perceive through audio. Sounds happen at the wrong time in unexpected places. Sometimes they go missing and you’re left holding the bag. Free music is somewhere murmuring behind the walls but it’s not really about that. Three monkeys in the jungle, a jest on managing expectations. If one hears an object being struck enough times and the resonance of the room, is this at all useful in extracting a narrative? We’ve all read about cryptophasia. These are just some scenarios to be interpreted. I heard “D.C.” on Nice Weather for War in a car driving along Queens Blvd four years ago and wanted answers. I’ve since become familiar with who made it and kind of what they do, but mostly all the same questions itch when I hear their recordings. I can’t really even prove that it’s them except for maybe “K&K”. I still think about the photo on Can We Win when I listen to this record; how that thing was clearly embedded in broad daylight, defiantly real and on display as if to antagonize whoever saw it into coming up with an explanation. It’s a lot funnier than all of this, actually." - Careful Catalog Careful Catalog, 2019
