The Columbus punks are back with another tape that puts songwriting in the backseat in order to show off seriously heavy psych-rock chops.
The tape starts off with a simple, blown-out riff repeating over some straightforward drumming, as a dissonant hum growls underneath it all. Any trace of vocals is hidden under a murky sneer. It’s definitely punk ethos meets space rock ala other current bands like Eternal Tapestry, but the groove and soloing are so fucked that it’s hard to fit it neatly into already fuzzily defined genres.
The band also works with some more calm grooves, electing to let effected loops and bright power chords do all the work, but the real deal comes via the B-side.
It opens with heavy riffing and does not stop until everything is blow into high-hat abandon. Restraint is minimal and that’s a good thing.
The final jam is the same kind of fucked up, coming from the other end-of-a-tunnel vocals under a surf punk type riff that climbs in time with the drumming. As the backing rhythm spaces out we're treated to some eastern sounding scales and the repetitive humming of a Rhodes that eventually turns into an all out keys freak out. It all snakes and builds until it eventually eats itself in a cathartic, cymbal-smashing finale.
Love this tape. I think the cassette format works best when a band steps outside of their normal sound to bring out the other skeletons hiding in their musical closet. EJDM’s blend of Columbus-on-drugs pop is some of my favorite, but to know they can jam like this (as also evidenced on last year’s Scalping The Guru LP) and that you can get it on a great looking tape for a few measly bucks, well, it's kind of like putting tits on a taco, in my book.
Get it here.
