Head On – Robert Christgau/Greil Marcus

A band we found ourselves hooked on back in 2018 through their debut album Ubik, Greek outfit Head On has so far evaded the major spotlights which we suggested were on their near horizon courtesy of their striking full-length but are back to tease them once again with their new two-track single.

The Athens hailing band again breed their tracks from a post punk heart enveloping both with just as potent post rock atmospherics but swiftly both Robert Christgau and Greil Marcus reveal the band’s sound has embraced a far richer and thicker expanse of flavouring compared to that within their impressive album. Equally there is a bolder maturity to the web of styles and imagination making up its senses entangling prowess, one increasing that suggestion that Head On deserve greater attention.

Both tracks making up the single are inspired by American music journalists and each a tribute with a touch of individualism and rebellion which could be said to equally spice the writers work. A-side is Robert Christgau, a song immediately winding attention enticing guitar wiring around ears. Rhythms gather with increasing intensity too though they never quite find a concussive touch as the track slips into its infectious post punk nurtured stroll. Tofer’s vocals join the canter, his resolute tones firm but with the same underlying off-kilter dynamic as carried by Breathiac’s guitar and Levojohn’s bass. With the equally purposeful beats of Kostas driving and adding commanding manipulation to song and listener alike within the melodic web cast by Breathiac, the track is pure captivation; essences of bands such as early Cure, Unsane, and KEN Mode coming to mind in varying degrees.

Greil Marcus provides the B-side and similarly had us on board from its initial nagging breath as guitar and bass nudges teased and lured before uniting in a more voracious canter with those same virulent hooks at work. There is something akin to a fusion of fellow Greeks SPInnERS and Russian punks Biting Elbows to the song but swiftly Head On stamp down their uniqueness as the cold taunting of the track and its virulent character thick in enterprise got under the skin. Senses scorching eruptions in sound and especially Tofer’s vocals only add to the tension and captivation of the track, its ferocity and disturbed breath adding to the thrilling drama.

Both tracks had us hungry for more and eagerly anticipating the next unpredictable Head On roar which hopefully will have a much larger landscape of ears waiting its unveiling if the band’s new single gets its deserved reward.

Robert Christgau/Greil Marcus is available now @ https://headongreece.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/Head0n/

Pete RingMaster 05/02/2020

Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright

LongFallBoots – For The Journey

The clue was there in the EP released soon after their debut album of 2015, a more than strong hint now thickly fuelling the new album from UK outfit LongFallBoots. Quite simply as it has evolved, their sound is becoming dirtier and more primal yet equally it is becoming more compellingly devious and eagerly imaginative, a mix which makes For The Journey one easy to recommend invasion of the senses. It is a release which will not be for everyone but hold an appetite for voracious grooves, dense scuzz soaked riffs, and a heaviness which devours the senses whilst a band spins a web of invigorating enterprise and it is a must investigation.

The Warwickshire band was formed by guitarist Alex Calvert-Caithness (KOSS, Cincinnati Bow Tie) and drummer Ben Holdstock (Paralus, Cincinnati Bow Tie) the night their other members of the band they were in  failed to turn up for rehearsal one night. Two and a half hours later and LongFallBoots emerged with the It Was Duke EP written. A series of further EPs followed, all written in a single night and recorded over a brief weekend. It was debut album Wait For The Echo of 2015 which awoke a great many more to their voracious multi-flavoured sound, the You’ll Know It When It Happens EP a year later cementing their reputation for ear grabbing enterprise and senses devouring sound whilst igniting that fresh feral but inventive breath which makes For The Journey so boldly stand out.

With stoner, space, and heavy rock essences as ripe within their noise borne groove woven sound, it is enjoyable not to easily tag the results but imagine a fusion of Melvins, The Great Sabatini, Mastodon, KEN mode, and Converge and you get a suggestive whiff of For The Journey. Diving into album opener Start offers the character if not the diversity of the album, the song coaxing ears with a melodic invitation before invading ears with a horde of guitar and bass riffs upon the biting beats of Holdstock. His throat scarring roars only add to the impact with the track truly gripping ears through virulent grooves and a combined vocal prowess across the band.

Bullet Cake follows, it too needing mere seconds to entice attention as stoner nurtured lures beckon ears as an increasingly heavier breath soaks every subsequent note and roar. All the while melodic and harmonic enticement work their temptation, the bass and vocal potency of Amy Smith a contrast of dark and light around the sonic weaving of Calvert-Caithness and fellow guitarist Jonathan Martin. The track is a magnet pretty much like all within the already gripping release, next up No Rest confirming the point. Once more a gentle captivating beginning leads to a primal surge of sound and subsequent senses ravishing endeavour, a great sludge rock consumption revolving its persuasion with intricate melodic teasing.

That ability to intrigue and seduce from the very first second of a song is a potent trait in the band’s writing and imagination, the outstanding Good (In Theory) stepping forward next to epitomise that quality, the punk soaked scourge of sound which follows its opening persuasion as captivating in its voracity and discontent while Part of the Plan for one minute and a half relishes the temptation of its Melvins meets Pixies spiced irritability before in turn Devolver shakes things up again with its fusion of sludge thick enmity and gentle melodic reflection.

That diversity within For The Journey continues to flourish as the grunge meets melodic rock of Take It Back demands attention, the volatility in its heart and breath as compelling as its calmer infectiousness while both Nihilust and POWAH welcomingly trespass ears with their respective melodic/garage rock and infernally barbarous proposals. The thrilling latter nags as it drones, seduces as it entices, ears never knowing whether to succumb or escape as the song twists through its kaleidoscope of imagination.

As Megabear teases and taunts with the vocals of Smith pure temptation and To A Man wraps its web of wiry deceit and tenacious enterprise around again fearing but addictive ears, the album just breaches another level of tempting, one cemented by the dense and delicious rock ’n’ roll of The Old Tongue and the drama soaked journey of Sailing Stones.

Concluded by the epic adventure of Palindrome, a track which ensures its length is easily embraced through surprises, enterprise and imagination, For The Journey left us exhausted and hungry for more. LongFallBoots is band which in a way came to be by accident or after the glory of their new album maybe it was simply music fate.

For The Journey is available now @ https://longfallboots.bandcamp.com/album/for-the-journey-2

https://www.facebook.com/LongFallBoots   https://twitter.com/LongFallBoots

Pete RingMaster 26/01/2020

Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright

Freighter – The Den

If conventions are for flouting and creative borders for escaping then San Francisco trio Freighter are equipped to lead the exodus though on the evidence of the band’s new album, The Den, there are few others which can rival their voracious appetite for both. Across eight ferociously bold atypical tracks, band and release revel in embracing and disfiguring time signatures, previously defined flavours, and anything expectations can conjure to cast a diabolical web of uniqueness which very often escapes the confines of the listener’s imagination.

Formed years back by lifelong friends guitarist/vocalist Travis Andrews and bassist Jason Braatz and subsequently completed by drummer Matt Guggemos, Freighter weave a technical progressive metal confrontation which soon reveals it goes far beyond those confines. 2008 saw the release of their self-titled debut album but then seemingly came an extremely quiet period as members pursued other projects. Five years on and the original pair reunited and began plotting and weaving the band’s next chapter which is now indelibly marked by the release of The Den.

Themed by ”the endless struggle with sleep and the downstream effects of not getting enough of it,” The Den immediately entangles ears and imagination in its ferocious mania through Psychic Reading ’94; the track harassing the senses with guitar and drums as the bass springs its own dissonant welcome. Andrews’ vocals soon join the sonic pestering with matching relish, the song swiftly stamping its authority on attention whilst twisting its creative entrails. Guggemos’ rhythms continue to coerce as they molest, the bass courting the wild turbulence with its own feral rousing of ears and appetite. Within it all though, an untamed sense of order is established but one which still only echoes the brazen uproar erupting from within the band’s imaginative and inventive dissonance.

With barely a breath drawn, Future Duke burst upon the senses next, its barbarous trespass as infectious as it is fearsome as it descends on beleaguered senses. As with the first track, there is a noise punk ferocity and predation to the assault which instantly grabbed approval and only enhanced its grip as melodic and progressive hues blossomed within the, at times, carnal maelstrom of sound and innovation. Glorious and devastating, the outstanding track is only echoed in temptation and striking prowess by Presto Change-O, its challenge immediate, visceral and inescapably stirring as the guitar feverishly burrowed under skin already battered and bruised by contorted rhythms. From that sonic insurgence a delicious melodic teasing adds its own bait, a riveting concoction which only intensifies as the track bares its unmethodical but skilfully woven drama. Even clutch of seconds brings fresh enterprise and incitement, keys and vocal variety adding to the genius outpouring.

Three tracks in and the uniqueness of release and sound is etched on the psyche but imagine a cauldron boiling up the essences of bands such as Cryptopsy, KEN mode, Art Of Burning Water, Sofy Major, and System Of A Down and you have a whiff of the tempest within The Den as epitomised by Hot Car Death Dad next.  With its engine finally engaged, the track takes to the sonic highway with a wonderful groove, another essence conjured which niggles at the psyche like a demented puppeteer as heavier rhythmic tones court its persuasion. The ride as you can rightly assume is upon an undulating road of twists and turns, each an adventure in its own right and all adding up to a nightmarish road trip of enthralling misshapen adventure.

 Stick Around And Do It Right Until You Get It Perfect shares its brief esurient proposal straight after, springing forward unscrupulous and eventfully unpredictable antics woven together to create another major and seriously compelling moment within the album. Perpetually rabid but equally, at certain times, just calmly mesmeric, the song seduced as it devoured with again within The Den every second bringing an unpredictability and virulent tempting which just consumed the passions before King Pigeon stamped its authority on ears and appetite. Its continuously ruthless attack courtesy of Guggemos initially belies the jazz bred ingredients in waiting; their eventual animation soon beleaguered by the tide of infernal sound led by Braatz’s ever eagerly consumed and rousing gnarly basslines. To be honest as with all tracks we can only give a glimpse of the real invention of the imaginative incidents let alone the striking craft aligned to psychotic songwriting within songs but as proven once more the real fun is in the physical discovery anyway.

Talking of unbalanced and unstable, both apply to the ferocious might and wonder of the glorious Harbor Of Dieppe, a track which simply assaulted as it lustfully ignited a similarly tenacious imagination, and the album closing exploits of the salaciously flirtatious Cimitero. Both tracks fascinated as they burrowed under the skin, the latter a tantalising cacophonous waltz cast in beauty and discord with its predecessor the kind of incessant examining and dismembering of the senses so simple to drool over.

Fair to say we consumed and doted on every second of The Den with increasingly open lust listen by listen It may have taken an age for Freighter to return with a second album but its might will have all fans caring little and though it could be too early to suggest the main best album contenders for the year but there is no doubt this ravenous treat will majorly figure here and beyond.

The Den is out now @ https://freighter.bandcamp.com/album/the-den

https://www.freighterband.com/   https://www.facebook.com/freighterband/   https://twitter.com/freighterband

 Pete RingMaster 23/07/2019

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

The RingMaster Review picks its favourite metal, rock and noise releases of 2018

Across its busy year 2018 unleashed a horde of gripping and rousing metal, rock, and noise driven releases. Here we pluck out those covered by The RingMaster Review which had the juices flowing most lustfully of all…

1. Black Space Riders – Amoretum Vol. 2

2. Coilguns – Millennials

3. KEN mode – Loved

4. VNDTA – Pale Glow

5. Mammüth – Outlander

6. Black Space Riders – Amoretum Vol. 1

7. Eryn Non Dae. – Abandon Of The Self 

8. The Great Sabatini – Goodbye Audio

9. U-Foes – No More No More

10. Dead Register – Captive

11. Naberus – Hollow

12. Bailer – Self Titled

13. Hostile Array – Self Titled 

14. In Vain – Currents

15. Vantablack Warship – Abrasive Pulmonic Speak

16. Skulk, The Hulking – Afterbirth Of A Nation

17. The Ugly Kings – Darkness Is My Home

18. Spookshow Inc. – Visions Of The Blinded World pt I & II

19. The Castor Troys – Legends Never Die

20. Owl Company – Iris

21. Deville – Pigs with Gods

22. Arcaeon – Balance EP

23. Maudlin – Sassuma Arnaa

24. The Senton Bombs – Outsiders

25. Verni – Barricade 

KEN mode – Loved

We cannot say that the artwork surrounding releases particularly guides or influences our thoughts going into a new encounter but it has to be admitted that the art wrapping the new KEN mode album made a striking impression whilst sparking intrigue and imagination long before a note was heard. Created by the band’s long-time collaborator Randy Ortiz, it is a piece which also inspired the band itself in regards to Loved, their seventh full-length. Vocalist/guitarist Jesse Matthewson ahead of its release revealed that “We entered writing for this album with one goal in mind – to please the smile” referring to the cover’s protagonist.

He also said “We wanted to make an album that represented a thinking person’s reaction to the political/technological climate we are existing in today. We wanted to make the perfect album to put on repeat while pushing your physical limits to their maximum, if only to silence the noise that is constantly whirring around inside of your own head, even for a brief moment.” Listening to Loved, it is not hard to feel they succeeded in both, certainly in satisfying the smile and though whether you can create perfection can be debated but it is a release which stands on the frontline of their most stirring and striking proposals yet.

From the grungier and expansive indie rock inspired endeavour of its highly enjoyable predecessor, Success, KEN mode has in many ways returned to the sonic viscera and noise punk/hardcore toxicity of the likes of Venerable (2011) and Entrench (2013) for Loved. In saying that, the album equally pushes the bold adventure hinted at in Success to far more magnetic, feral, and maybe for some divisive heights. It is unapologetically invasive, a cauldron of sonic violence, and their most invasively dark offering yet and for us more than possibly their finest moment yet.

Doesn’t Feel Pain Like He Should is the first venomous treat from Loved, the track instantly lancing the senses with a sonic incision before the fierce rapier swings of drummer Shane Matthewson descend closely aligned to the ravenous grumble of Scott Hamilton’s bass. The caustic wires cast from Jesse’s guitar equally infest song and listener making a nagging cradle for the raw throated squall of his vocals all the time rhythms breeding greater virulence in their trespass. It is a glorious nagging of sound taking swipes and bites with every elevation of animosity and twist of enterprise resulting in a deliciously corrosive start to the release.

The Illusion Of Dignity teases with its initial lure before swinging on rapacious rhythms next, Shane’s hits a bone shuddering impact matched in carnal attraction by the resonance of Scott’s bass. Post punk hues add to the noise rock antics bred within the cavernous yet threateningly intimate breath of the track, vocals a toxic animus across the revolving spiral and searing flare up of guitar. As with its predecessor, new intensities fuel and fresh ideation inspires the course of the irresistible intrusion before Feathers & Lips steps forward to prey on senses and psyche. From its first breath it is a challenging threat but quickly springing its own infectious violation as seductively flirtatious as it is menacingly inhospitable. With a web of sonic dissonance and enticement at its heart, it is another which easily got under the skin and infringed upon the senses for rich pleasure.

It there was vague concord in the last track, Learning To Be Too Cold is sheer ill-will and needs a mere breath to invade and suffocate the senses in its corrosive wash and vocal feud as beats again barely labour to punish and incite attention. The vile lure of bass is a treat whilst the sonic scathing from the guitar is a mercilessly nagging breach as magnetic as everything piercing its scarring waves. It is not a song with the same instinctive contagion of those before it but one as memorable while Not Soulmates sets another unforgettable marker with its untamed but skilfully bred cacophony led by vocal discontent.

Very Small Men rears up to share its unique character and proposal swiftly after, dancing in on nimble dynamics driven by Shane’s inimitable rhythmic dexterity. It is soon though blowing a storm of aural animation hell-bent on igniting muscles and addictiveness to flex their instincts as the song’s holler enslaves. It is a thrill of an infestation, discord increasing by every turn of sonic entanglement and emotive dissonance.

From one of the album’s momentous moments to another as the calm swing of This Is A Love Test brings its own array of creative altercation. A jazz nurtured intimating caress is brought by the sax of Kathryn Kerr, its emotive and mellow seducing aligned to vocal reflection but both soon inspiring and joining a rancorous expulsion of frictious inharmony in a schism of enterprise which further inflames ears and thoughts as rhythms permeate the body.

The final pair of Fractures In Adults and No Gentle Art are equally as riveting and argumentative. The first is a senses hassling, evolving drone of disharmony which fingers and violates psyche and self-peace, each wave of creative quarrel intensifying in weight, ferocity, and conflict to disarm and inhumanely seduce while its successor rises up from a connecting rhythmic pulsation, emerging through shadow thick, portentously drenched serenity into almost salacious sonic warfare It stalks the listener from the off, every note and breath bringing a slight elevation in threat and intensity leading to crescendos of visceral expulsions and ravenous corrosion laden discordance again with Kerr’s breath casting creative arson within the gorgeous enmity.

The track is a bewitching, at times bewildering and relentlessly breath-taking conclusion to an album proving so hard to escape and move on to new adventure from. If you are looking for life affirming calm and beauty, Loved is not for you yet in many ways it does feed those desires whilst focusing the senses and thoughts on the reality of the world we are inescapably part of. Self-harm has never been more fun and invigorating than with KEN mode’s latest monster of a gem.

Loved is available now via Season of Mist and @ https://kenmode.bandcamp.com/album/loved

Check out their website for news and dates of their Canadian dates with Shallow in September, US/Canadian tour alongside Birds In Row in October, and European tour with Coilguns and Birds In Row this Nov/Dec.

http://www.ken-mode.com    http://www.facebook.com/kenmode    http://www.twitter.com/kenmodenoise

Pete RingMaster 31/08/2018

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

The Glorious Rebellion – Euphoric

 

Live at the Haven 05/30/2015. Photo by Sandy Rushing. — with Zeke Rushing, Wade Scianimanico and Billy Myers III.

Euphoric is the kind of bully no one can have a problem with. It is a release which harries and bruises the senses as if it was created to do nothing else, though truthfully, the debut mini album from US noise rockers The Glorious Rebellion is just as uncompromising and seriously compelling with its range of intrusive hooks within an infectious swagger. The band creates corrosive rock ‘n’ roll with a bite and attitude as virulent as the imagination that fuels it.

Formed and driven by vocalist/guitarist Billy Myers III, the Florida hailing band was soon lighting up their local live scene, that success stretching further afield as their dirtily rapacious noise rock ferocity and sonic rabidity grabbed attention. As rich in almost savage melodic mischief, their music seemed to easily spark crowds as The Glorious Rebellion shared stages with the likes of Jucifer, The Phuss, Black Tusk, Ken Mode, Lo-Pan, Black Cobra, Child Bite, Holly Hunt, Hollow Leg, and Destroyer of Light amongst many over time, successes luring new fans whilst enhancing the band’s reputation pushed again by the release of their two track single I in 2014. The years have also seen numerous line-up changes over the years; in fact it seems any page you look at and info found has a different line-up suggested. Importantly for the album though, it is Myers igniting ears with everything apart from drums which the impressing dynamics and swings of Wade Scianimanico takes care of. With additional vocals provided by Dan Manata, Euphoric is a sure-fire ball buster of sound, attitude, and intensity, which predominantly leaves pleasure emulating the album’s title.

The album opens with It’s A Sucker’s Game, Kid and straight away has ears under sonic and rhythmic siege whilst already sparking an eager appetite for what is to follow. What do badger the senses next are thick and predatory grooves around just as grouchy riffs and rhythms.  Already a heavy catchiness is laying potent bait, lures reinforced by the excellent attitude sculpted roars of Myers and an even strong spice to the grooves. In full aggressive stride, there is a Pigs meets Unsane feel with a tasty whiff of Motorhead to the track, though to be fair, all are passing essences in the band’s distinctive animosity of sound.

The great start continues with the equally infectious and fearsome Emmett Brown Has Never Met A Scott That Wasn’t Great. From a more low key start, a thick tide of riffs and rhythms descend on ears before stepping aside momentarily for that great initial coaxing to grip attention all over again. Throughout, the song makes for an intrusive and abrasive proposition but digs into the psyche just as potently with its unpredictable and inventively twisted web of noise and ear gripping adventure. It’s easy to offer Melvins as a hint to the song’s escapade whilst the even more outstanding Benaquyl and its enslaving rock ‘n’ roll nudges thoughts of bands like Gruntruck and The Great Sabatini in the course of sculpting another pinnacle within Euphoric straight after. The song also highlights more of the variety of spices in the band’s sound, stoner and punk as open as this slab of noise rock breeding.

The brilliant Have I Told You Lately That I Loathe You? snarls and rages next with vocals and guitars as irritable as each other and just as pungently enticing around the rancorous grumble of the bass. Within that hostility though, band and songs cast some of the most addictive and infectious essences to be found on the release. They are elements which turns hunger into a lust for more which The Dirtiest Dream Jobs feeds with its cantankerous tone and sonic enterprise soaked in melodic acidity. Admittedly personal tastes are not quite on fire for the song as for its predecessors yet it is nothing less than a highly enjoyable and in turn lingering tempting drawing attention back onto band and release.

The album closes with Bitches Hate Misogyny, an ill-tempered and tempestuous blaze of sound and vocal incitement which tells you all you need to know about the band in noise, craft, humour, and thrilling adventure. It is a hellacious mouth-watering end to an equally impressive release which was our introduction to The Glorious Rebellion but the beginning of a major kinship between ear and sound we suspect; something hard to see us being alone in.

Euphoric is out now via Magnetic Eye and @ https://thegloriousrebellion.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/thegloriousrebellion   http://thegloriousrebellion.bigcartel.com   https://twitter.com/TGRnoise

Pete RingMaster 18/04/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more exploration of the independent and promotional services check out http://www.zykotika.com/

We’ll Go Machete – Smile Club

Though knowing the name and reputation earned through their earlier releases, we had yet to get to grips with a We’ll Go Machete encounter. So it is with thanks to the band’s vocalist/guitarist Paul Warner, who introduced band and new album Smile Club to us just recently. All that can be said is boy have we been missing out, as the band’s second album is a glorious tempest of sound, striking imagination, and creative intensity. Smile Club simply infests ears and psyche with a hex of noise rock, post punk, and math rock plus any other caustic spicing you can think of, and certainly left us not hungry but desperate for more.

With a line-up completed by bassist Chris May and drummer Rachel Fuhrer, the Austin hailing We’ll Go Machete first sparked interest with their 2009 self-titled EP though it was debut album Strong Drunk Hands two years later which was the catalyst to richer attention and acclaim. Live too the band has garnered a healthy name and stature, shows alongside the likes of Future of the Left, Melvins, Hammerhead, and Fatal Flying Guillotines, as well as their own headlining events over time marking We’ll Go Machete out as one of the more exciting emerging propositions. Late to the party, as said Smile Club is our first real taster of the band and fair to say the, as its predecessors, Cedar Fever Records released album just whipped up a frenzy in sound and lustful reactions.

   Absence is the first welcome stirring of the senses, tangy grooves and thumping beats enriching an instant sonic swamp of noise swiftly loaded up further with the distinctive, angst hued tones of Warner. It is a striking and invigorating mix which has body and thoughts fully involved from the first trespass. Like something springing from a blend of Melvins, Quicksand, and Sofy Major, the track continues to growl and flex its confrontational muscles yet breeds an inescapable contagion. Adventure is already bold in the album, the song for example slipping through mellower evocative scenery across its potently unpredictable landscape for a mighty start to the inventive emprise of Smile Club.

The following and as outstanding Drawstring is just as quickly captivating, its entrance of tenaciously prowling rhythms and rapaciously alluring riffs gripping attention and appetite immediately. Spicy grooves and sharp hooks only add to the emerging theatre of sound and melodic drama with the again pungent voice of Warner only seeming to inflame the sounds around him into greater enthusiasm of craft and energy. Like a web, the track has fresh inescapable treats at every turn, the rhythms of May and Fuhrer cage like in their union around the acidic tapestry cast by the guitar.

A post punk tone and imagination comes with The Bardo though it is soon overwhelmed by a noise rock tsunami of emotional intensity veined by creeping sonic tendrils of guitar. The song does not have the same immediate impact as the pair before, but blossoms into a bordering on sinister persuasion of clanging dissonant chords amidst suggestive and volatile textures to only enslave over time.

Strasberg Air is a far swifter raw seducing with again hooks and rhythmic tenacity key bait in the evolving ingenuity of sound. Like a more restrained Fat Dukes of Fuck and mellower Shevils, the track bounces off the walls of ears and senses with Fuhrer alone creating an inescapable trap with his addictively imaginative beats. Carrying a grungier colour to vocals and melodies, the song leaves a lingering thrill before making way for the melancholic tempest of Scratch Built. The early solemn come doomy premise and air is eventually set ablaze by the corruptive quickstep of toxic riffs and earthy basslines splintered by viciously swung beats. With its own emotional ecoclimate, the track shifts from heavily dark through torrentially volatile to infectiously energetic before heading back into imposing shadows in a final exhilarating outburst.

The major pinnacle of the album is Positive People which comes next. It is another delving into post punk terrain, an eighties genre spicing lining choppy riffs and a wonderfully brooding bass tempting from May. Elements remind of bands such as Artery and The Fire Engines, whilst the cold air certainly has a Joy Division-esque feel to it, but again We’ll Go Machete only sculpt a startling and addictive exploration of their very own. Discord is always a friend of the musician and here perfectly woven into the torment soaked anatomy of one glorious incitement, its majesty continuing into Break the Kettles which evolves out of its predecessor’s tail wind. A slower corrosively elegant proposal, the track binds ears and imagination with sonic lacing whilst simultaneously sending splinters of guitar invention and rhythmic animosity into its angst thick drama.

Both Shot Giant and Cigarettes and Face Masks keep the compelling power and industry of Smile Club ablaze, the first an intensive shuffle pressuring ears with spiteful beat spilling agitation and ravaging riffery but unafraid to slip into something more melodically provocative and hauntingly intimidating. Its successor brews its own ridiculously addictive and threatening maze of fierce imagination and bitchy rhythms infested with swarms of toxic grooves and citric melodic endeavour. Each only ignites greedier pleasure but the second is especially virulently disorientating and thrilling.

The album is brought to an end by firstly the warped harmonious beauty of Molten Tiny Cell, a song nagging in sound and repetitious mastery until satisfaction is drooling and lastly Dust Storms May Exist. The final song is just superb, a hellacious storm of flavour and imagination which at times has a spicing reminiscent of KEN mode, in others moments a raw tone and feel which is similar to In Love Your Mother, and continually leads the listener on a spiral of exhaustive and perpetually resonating adventure in craft, energy, and again relentlessly twisting swirls of rabid sound and invention.

There is plenty more to say in praise of Smile Club but bottom-line is we simply adore it and feverishly recommend it to all fans of noise, psych, punk…well any lover of fierce rock ‘n’ roll.

Smile Club is available now via Cedar Fever Records.

RingMaster 26/08/2015

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

For more independent exploration check out http://www.zykotika.com/