after giving these guys a few listens i think i've both identified why they don't work for me as strongly as el drugstore and why exactly el drugstore does work so well where so many other bands fail.
1. there's not really any reprieve moments, they go full throttle 95%+ of the time and it can get overwhelming
2. there's clearly a focus on the guitar here & there's outright no actual bass guitar apparently, it's lacking the instrumental synergy el drugstore (and even dysrhythmia) has
3. it's missing the hooks and memorable melodies that stick in your head. waltz of the swedish meatballs has one at the start but beyond that there's not much here i can really recall. plague ship is just. utterly bloated with all these kinds of hooks
4. lack of structure really. the songs just flow and flow without ever feeling cohesive, a mesh of ideas jammed together. this is a problem with a lot of prog really but it's pretty evident here.
and despite all that i still do think this is one of the better examples of the style & i am probably interested in picking this one up especially 'cause it's cheapo as heck everywhere, but i am gonna give their other album another spin too & see if i dig it more. i do like this, it's just lacking the qualities that make for a really great album.
also great album cover tbh