The Samps is a project started by Cole MGN, member of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and husband to Ramona Gonzalez, aka Nite Jewel. The group, consisting of himself alongside J. Darrah and Harland Burkhart, released an EP back in 2010, but things mostly took a back seat to other projects that the three were working on. Now things have finally lined up for the group, who now deliver their debut LP, Breakfast.

The Samps are a little hard to categorize, but the broad strokes are that this is a group that is built off a foundation of sampling, and then pushing the boundaries of genre, bringing in elements of hip hop, disco, house, indie rock, and beyond. The group adheres to a philosophy of micro-sampling, that is capturing the tiniest pieces of pre-recorded material, so that you aren’t getting much more beyond one rhythmic or sonic element per sample, so that they can re-construct things into something entirely new. That new music is something that is a little ADD in its composition, which will be part of the appeal for some listeners who are excited to hear something that’s always evolving into something else. That said, there are moments across the album when The Samps do stay on a groove for a minute, or let a hook play through a few times, which gives the music something of an anchor, something to hold onto and feel like you have a home base while all these other found sounds, synthesizers, and bass lines swirl around you. The end result is something of a No-Wave, glitchy, Avalanches-meets-James Pants type of album, something that is fascinating to listen to, but also takes a couple times through to really appreciate what they are doing. It’s not a tradition pop album by any mean, but for those looking for something different, The Samps are certainly doing that.

Breakfast is a challenging and exciting listening experience. The Samps push each other to experiment with composition and instrumentation, always looking for different ways to complicate the expectations for what an instrumental electronic album should sound like.