Kevin Bronson on October 24th, 2020

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L.A. native Kaz Mirblouk has played and toured with Hooveriii and Numb.er, released music as a solo artist and gone off to college, graduated and returned home. None of which quite prepares you for the arresting intensity of his new single “Borderline.”

The song is the lead track on his forthcoming album “Careless by Contrast,” due. Jan. 22, a record that figures to find a home among fans of sophisticated, genre-blurring guitar rock. Written in 2017 and ’18, co-produced by Louis Cohen and self-recorded by Mirblouk around tours in 2018 and ’19, the album dives into psychedelic krautrock and angular post-punk. A stylistic leap from his 2016 album “Imitate, Intimidate,” it’s the sound of an artist shedding his old skin.

“Borderline” immediately commands attention, with its taut, muscular rhythm section giving way to a helix of guitars. It makes for an explosive, exhilarating four minutes.

“‘Borderline’ was the first song I wrote for the record,” Mirblouk says. “It was a big transitory phase of my life. I’d just graduated from college and recently moved back home to Los Angeles. I’d recently discovered Television’s ‘Marquee Moon’ and was listening to a live [Creedence Clearwater Revival] record called ‘The Concert’ on repeat.

“Musically, I wanted to ride the same line both those bands had, mixing both the rhythmic drive and evolving guitar work that kept the songs growing to new heights. The lyrics came from my observations of familial dynamics and how everyone gauges their interaction as both an individual and as a unit. Having briefly moved back into my childhood home, I realized how much I’d grown into a different person and was constantly riding the line between my old self and this new unknown of who I’d become next.”

||| Stream: “Borderline”