LUSHES are a band born of tensions - between art and math, order and chaos, planning and chance. You can hear it in their songs - taut, twitching art-punk that balance anxiety and elation, often within the space of a few bars. Album opener "Harsh" glides along slowly, feeling like a moody and measured art-rock meditation until you zero in on the words in the chorus: "Harsh on my ears, that's the way I like it." This is push-pull music, songs that temper the jagged fitfulness of groups like June of 44 and Slint with the soft-focus sweetness and open-ended song structures of The Sea & Cake and The Notwist. That moods so diametrically opposed can peacefully coexist is part of LUSHES mystery and allure. That duality extends to the group's background. and musical backgrounds were different: James grew up on bands like Nirvana, Wu-Tang Clan and Fugazi. Joel was formally trained, loving classical music but almost completely oblivious to rock and pop. The fusion of their disparate influences is what animates LUSHES - the anarchy of punk and hardcore colliding with the precision of classical to create music that is marvelously ordered while still feeling seconds away from detonation. That tension pulses throughout ,What Am I Doing", the group's warring influences making for music that feels brittle and vital.