SONIC MASALA: Regurgitator

Friday, 15 February 2013

Another Breath(e) Out Brings Absolute True Love

When you say absolute true love, it kinda sounds like you are trying to convince yourself as much as the person you are talking to. Maybe it’s the tautological implications of the term. Which means that calling your EP Absolute True Love implies that the record is pregnant with meaning. UK band Breathe Out are intent on playing with the jangly guitar pop, awash with shimmering soundscapes, instilling these awkward moments involving electronic squelches, samples and subtleties to imbue these strong tracks with urgency and surprise. There is something Regurgitator about single ‘Dead Friends’, what either the Ely-esque deadpan vocals, the sonorous guitar line that slips into slight dirges and whoa’s before stretching into micro-second Pavement distort-o-quirk. Its within the art cover too – a derelict back lot, a solitary skull in the foreground, a beercan, a guitar discarded in a shopping trolley, drums abandoned by the basement door – dire, yet filled with morbid mirth.

You can pre-order Absolute True Love here – and seeing as this is Art Is Hard, the release is special - get in now and get yourself a nice T-shirt bundle.

Breathe Out – Dead Friends

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Searching For A Singular Highland

It always intrigues me when musicians with a particular musical pedigree abandon their roots to venture down an entirely different path. Some do it within the umbrella of their former guise (Thrice and Regurgitator fans know this only too well), whilst many others form other bands to distance themselves from the past. The members of Californian psych shoegaze outfit Highlands used to play in hardcore and weird noise bands, and are now moving in a different direction with this band. It's actually a prefect meld though, as the psych and shoegaze are pushed roughly to the forefront by the ever-present menace of inclement noise, a welcome breach of aural comfort that has you covering your ears and turning the volume up. Singularity is crafted to be played as loud as possible, yet there has been a lot of effort placed in offering a nuanced, lush sounding record. All these things could have served as contradictions, but this stuff is the real deal.

Get Singularity here. It's a great, brooding record, well worth everyone's full attention.

Highlands - Railroad
Highlands - Sunshine

About

It was early on a Sunday morning at ATP - A Nightmare Before Christmas 2009. After downing a fair few, at 4am we decided to cook a curry. It was during the consumption of this drunkenly delicious breakfast treat that we decided to actually do something about the music we talk about all the time.

So we started a blog – and Sonic Masala was born. Now into its seventh year, the blog has spread out to call both Australia and the UK its home (and the rest of the world), and has expanded to include gigs, festivals and a record label under its black umbrella. Come on, eat the noize.

If an mp3 is up here, it's because we have been talking about it, and think the whole world needs to know more. It's there to give you a little taste. Then, if you like, check out the band live and spend all your hard earned cash on their records. If we've posted up an mp3 of your stuff and you're not too keen on the idea, let us know and we'll happily take it down pronto.