In an age of ever-atomizing microgenres and scenes built around digital platforms, the Windmill — a venue in Brixton, UK — is a rare beacon of old-school IRL stability. The scene that coalesced around it for the last decade is now old enough to produce new generations of bands influenced by the cohort before it, iterations on the post-rock and post-punk adjacent sounds that are the Windmill's hallmarks. Man/Woman/Chainsaw, on the other hand, are more like a consolidation of all those sounds, with their debut album Cannonball adding sharp indie rock and pop chops to the mix. Billy Ward and Vera Leppänen started jamming together during COVID-19 lockdowns. They started playing at the Windmill regularly soon after the band's lineup stabilized around 2023, with Ward and Billy Doyle on guitar, Leppänen on bass, Emmie-Mae Avery on keys, Clio Starwoodwhen on violin and Lola Cherry on drums, as well as Ward, Leppänen and Avery trading vocal duties. This early, more cacophonous version of the band culminated with 2024's acclaimed Eazy Peazy EP. For Cannonball, though, Man/Woman/Chainsaw finally figured out that they didn't all need to be playing at the same time, the newfound space bringing fresh dimensions to their songwriting. "Nosedive" was the first indication of what the band were truly capable of: a slow, bubbling build that culminates in a triumphant emotional epiphany. It's the LCD Soundsystem playbook given an orchestral pop makeover. "Only Girl" could be a lost Broken Social Scene song, while the slithering "Goddamn Lizard Man" sees Ward slip into some reptilian character work. In fact, each of the record's eleven songs bring something new to the table — some novel sound, twist, or turn of phrase that ensures it stands out from the rest. More importantly, every track provides the sonic context for the next; "Get Up and Dance" might not be an obvious standout at first blush, but coming after the euphoric "Nosedive," its tumultuous build hits that much harder. Musically adventurous yet concise in delivery, Cannonball mines familiar source material to spectacular effect. Man/Woman/Chainsaw have figured out how to make all of their disparate parts work together, and created something that feels entirely their own.