John Jones might sludge out proto-punk grooves as the bassist of Dope Body, but there’s a prolific yang to his personality that thrives in kraut meditations that collide Can with Incredible Bongo Band. John Jones is a rhythm junkie under the moniker Nerftoss and has released a slew of tapes in a two-year stint. Later this month, he’s got his first NNA Tapes release with Crushed.
Much like “Bottomless” off 2014’s Maiden Powers cassette, “Bender” is a blissful barrage of layered bongo loops that magnifies until the listener begins to succumb to the placebo of peaking. Nerftoss finds many transcendental nooks within the course of Crushed, for instance “Bender” is followed by a soaring ambient wash of “Ladada” that elevates the spirit, but Jones is an experienced guide who knows the rhythmic path to that beatific space. There is an unmistakeable feeling that since the formation of the Nerftoss project with Spirit Advantage, Jones has been trying to take us higher and Crushed feels like the most fully realized culmination of that ambition to date.
Nerftoss’ Crushed is out May 27 on NNA Tapes.
