Sunday, 13 February 2022

Vacant Lights - Funeral Noise Exits




Vacant Lights play a tortured mix of sludge/noise/stoner

with a definite experimental vibe. This is a heavy trip

into Melvins/Christpunchers type of brainmelt riffs, coupled

with the unhinged rhythms of early Jesus Lizard or Big

Black. The songs create a dense, claustrophobic atmosphere

that sucks you into a frenzied world of fuzzed out psychosis.



The band have created their own unique take on this genre.

Fuzzed guitars, distorted bass and head-pounding drums

lay the foundations for cleanish/harsher vocals

to sit on top of the mix but never overpowering the frenetic

guitar noise. Song passages ebb and flow, taking you

from slow motion swamp speed to jarring psychedelic freak

outs. Saxaphones, field recordings, spoken word all help to take

this to another level that The Swans and Lingua Ignota have only hinted at.

Sunday, 6 February 2022

Milquetoast - Caterwaul


Breakneck guitar riffs are spewed out with pin-point precision
and power, giving the songs a frantic edge which threaten to
crash and burn into the stratosphere before blowing up - but -
due the the songwriting strengths of this band, this never
happens.



Instead the tracks whirl and spin, morphing from crazed, distorted
hymns of violence into solid tunes of noise rock pounding out slabs
of sonic disturbances. Constant motion within the song passages
leave you no time to catch your breath among the riffs, solos and
intricate interplay between guitar, drums and the yelped out
vocals.


This is great stuff that demands repeated listens.

Tigers On Opium – 503.420.6669. Vol 2


Like a rainbow shining through storm clouds to give you advance

warning of sunnier weather to come, Tigers On Opium dispel any

feelings of gloom with some psychedelic hard rock with an

authentic nod to 70's kraut sounds mixed with some spoken word samples

that only add to the doomy feel of things.



The songs are tight compositions with some longer passages

that weave in and out of ideas, musical motifs and themes with

skilled playing and passion. Jumping the divide between 70's classic rock

and the more contemporary sounds of today - this album is a slice of psych

rocking that recalls yesteryear but is firmly entrenched in the now.

Released on Forbidden Place Records

Thursday, 30 December 2021

Albums Of The Year - 10 to 1

 

 10. Läjä Äijälä & Albert Witchfinder - Centuries of Youth
Downbeat power electronic


9. Squid - Bright Green Field
Krautpop post-punk


8. Sonic Demon - Vendetta
Fuzzed out distorted stoner


7. Black Spell - The Purple Skull
Scuzzy occult doom


6. God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10
Post-rock played over a sonic soundscape


5. Mother Iron Horse - Under The Blood Moon
Sludge doom, heavy and fuzzed


4. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I
Metal and post-hardcore never sounded so brutal or haunting


3. Fucked Up - Year Of The Horse
An ambitious four 20 min tracks of psychedelic hardcore punk


2. Iron Lizards - Hungry For Action
Rock'n'roll garage punk that makes me want to break things


1. Idles - Crawler
Post-punk masterpiece


That's it. This is what plays through my head when I am trying to survive just existing.

Wednesday, 29 December 2021

Albums Of The Year - 20 to 11

 

20. Muriel Grossman - Union
Spiritual jazz


19. Kowloon Walled City - Piecework
Sparse post-hardcore


18. Tropical Fuck Storm - Deep States
Experimental post-punk


17. Jointhugger - Surrounded By Vultures
Psychosonic doom rock


16. Blasting Rod - III
Heavy psych with Brass!


15. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs
Post-punk spoken ranting


14. Rostro Del Sol - S/T
Psych space rock


13. Haaz - Andra
Enthralling noise-rock


12. Part Chimp - Drool
Noise-rock with tunes


11. Melvins - Working With God
You know what is sounds like!

Tuesday, 28 December 2021

Albums Of The Year - 30 to 21

 

30. Mythic Sunship - Wildfire
Bluesy psychedelic prog 


29. ILL Considered - Liminal Space
Free jazz in a tribal style!


28. Cerce - Cowboy Music
Becca spits out her venom over a post punk hardcore racket.


27. Cha Wa - My People
New Orleans funk


26. Domkraft - Seeds
Groovy freaky sludge


25. 2 Headed Dogs - The Engine Is On
Nebula meets The Hellacopters


24. Leon III - Antlers In Velvet
Psychedelic indie folk


23. Junkbreed - Music For Cool Kids
Punk post-hardcore


22. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
Sub-Sahara fuzz rock


21. Death From Above 1979 - Is 4 Lovers
Post-punk you can dance to.

No bandcamp link???



Sunday, 26 December 2021

Albums Of The Year - 40 to 31

 

40. Chihuahua - Violent Architecture
Noise rock, post punk, no wave
39. Heavy Temple - Lupi Amoris
Stoner/doom riff machines

38. Watchman - Doom Of Babylon
A doom soundtrack for the apocalypse



36. The Lords Of Altamont - Tune In, Turn On, Electrify
Garage psych punk

35. A Better Tomorrow - Spiritual Crossing
Jazz, soul and metal groove


34. Stomatopod - Completing With Hindsight
Noisy post punk mathy rock


33. Dinosaur Jr - Sweep It Into Space
Hey, you either like 'em or don't.


32. Kills Birds - Married
Grungey post-punk


31. 10,000 Years - II
Feral doom/sludge fuzz fest

Monday, 20 December 2021

Albums of the Year - 50 to 41

50. Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gate
Free jazz groove


49. TV Priest - Uppers
Terse post-punk


48. The Pop Group - Y in Dub
Dennis Bovell remix


47. Monolord - Your Time To Shine
Fuzzed haunting doom


46. Mono - Pilgrimage Of The Soul
Mesmerising post-rock


45. Fere - Visceral
Experimental punk hardcore
 

44. X'ed Out - We All Do Wrong
Noise rock with bursts of brass


43. Duel - In Carne Persona
Heavy psych stoner



42. God Damn - Coward
Hardcore stoner metal



41. Uranus Space Club - Another Planet, Another Love
Funk jazz space rock