Chroming The Young

I am a massive fan of Austin reprobates The Young’s Voyagers Of Legend LP, which tore my face off in 2010 (it was one of our top albums of that year). That album was surprisingly on Mexican Summer - not a label that keeps tabs on this kind of viscerality - and was also their last one on there. Then my knowledge of their existence pretty much stopped right there. The quartet apparently brought out a follow-up album called Dub Egg, which I somehow missed. I'm scurrying around looking for it now...

But onward and upward. The Texans have a new album on Matador Records, and it's a balltearer. Chrome Cactus is sharper; harsher; leaner; sinister. There is a dropped-down drive that underscores this songs, which are then superseded by fuzzed out guitar solos a la Fu Manchu’s Scott Hill albeit with some deliberate restraint, and other abrasive effects like the squalling feedback stab on ‘Metal Flake’ or the the soaring synth that accompanies the “ballad” ‘Apache Throat’. The excellently-named Hans Zimmerman takes front and centre with his vocals this time around, and it lends an interesting counterpoint that is often overlooked in 21st century rock production – his voice is uninhibited by pedals, effects and nonsense distortion and delay, and as such stands somewhere between the monotone snarl of Girls Against Boys’ Eli Janney and the growl of Young Widows’ Evan Patterson. It helps the the sound has been tweaked by Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses/The Fucking Champs) in the blasted surrounds of the Sierra Nevada – definitely perfect environs for what transpires here - but you get a sense that Chrome Cactus may have landed at his feet fully formed. ‘Chrome Jamb’ has a narcoleptic undertone to its dry crawl, bent strings belying a Morricone hangover before bringing the doom; ‘Moondog First Quarter’ maintains the vitriol that has been missing from Black Mountain for some time. I still miss the darkness sewn into the Pixies-lite that littered their debut, but when the raucous drown-out that is the aptly-titled ‘Slow Death’ kicks in, closely followed by the feedback squall of closer ‘Blow The Scum Away’, the new Young is all that matters.

You can grab Chrome Cactus here. The Young play in NY tonight alongside SM faves Degreaser - get along.

Fear The White Reaper

Another month, another prolonged absence from the blog. What with tours and new releases on the label I have dropped the ball again. Lucky I have so much good music to come back to.

Ill kick off today with Kentucky dropkicks White Reaper. Their Conspirator/The Cut 7” was one of the standout small form releases of 2013 (check out what we thought here) and they are back in action with a slightly longer release, their eponymous debut EP (out through Polyvinyl). There is a raw gnarl about their garage punk stylings that keeps them fresh and surging through the pack of staid wannabes. Listen to the likes of 'Funn' or 'Half Bad' - this is Jeff The Brotherhood forcefed coke and sweat and run over with cement, with their maniacal grins cracking off their faces.  And the trio aren’t silly, bringing back the killer ‘Conspirator’ for a second helping, an octane caterwaul that raises the stakes on Japandroids' gritted garage rows.

Pre-order White Reaper (on clear pink 12") here. The huge news is that White Reaper is supporting the mighty Young Widows on their Stateside tour - awesome work!!

Wild Honey Weather

I've had a strange Euro holiday, to the point where I regard this moment - writing a Sonic Masala blog in an internet cafe in central London - as a pretty good time out. That's probably because of the music I have in my ears though. Austrian quartet Hella Comet have been around for a few years, but I have only listened to Wild Honey, their latest album out through Noise Appeal Records, and it's pretty killer. It's like The Joy Formidable if they had some balls underneath their bombastic maelstroms - nine tracks of explosive pop crumpled and delayed, hidden within the prism of white noise - a Russian doll of sonics to find the melody within. Some tracks, like 'Nektar' or 'Scatter The Ashes' (although the latter song also has a wash of sound that breaks over the chorus akin to a Mogwai melody), are more straight up Euro indie histrionics with easily identifiable melodies, but much of Wild Honey feels raw and elliptic - the husky rasp that bassist Lea Honnek lends to the vocals feels indie-ready, but the coalescing waves of distortion, cymbal flare and noise drives her forward, a sinister edge suddenly and irrevocably all-pervading. The bareness of some of these tracks are deceptive too - like Young Widows, Hella Comet can find unease in repetition.  The perfect balance of sweet and sour, Wild Honey is a salve for the gloom of these winter days of apocalypse. Buy it here.

Don't Mess With The Midnight Ghost Train

It's funny how a band's name can throw you for a loop. As it was when Karate Body Records sent me Buffalo, the new album from Kansas-based group The Midnight Ghost Train. For whatever reason, I was expecting at best rockabilly blues act, at worst some MOR indie bluster or folk bore. Not the unholy progeny of a menage a trois between Young Widows, Kyuss and Tom Waits. There is probably a better reference here - there's a song that is licking my earlobe, but I can't quite remember it, it's bloody annoying - but where blues, desert stoner rock, riff-tastic solos and some gruff mewling with an evil glint in the eye fuse together, I will surely follow. It's pretty great all round, bottom heavy to hell and back, and the slow chug of 'Tom's Trip' that explodes in the final third is worth the price of admission alone. And possibly the best covers-based about-turn in 2012 is here too in the guise of an acappella rendition of Lead Belly's 'Cotton Fields' as done by a traveling freakshow. I shit you not, Buffalo is white-hot, jampacked full of ferocity, twists and turns, worthy of a face-melting.


You can grab Buffalo here and here. Seriously, you won't find many bands with thicker rock riffs this year.

Big Branch Hangs Over God's Town

Small label Texas Is Funny have released In Love, a 7" split between The Grasshopper Lies Heavy (whose two tracks here are pretty much slay everything) and these guys, God Townes, and I have been impressed since my first listen around a month ago. The quartet (now with new drummer Josh Huskin on the skins) eschew their noise-punk origins (coming out of the ashes of Sohns) for a darker, dynamic dirge, akin to Southern brethren Young Widows with a dash of Girls Against Boys. These two tracks are a great calling card for what could very well be an interesting couple of years for both bands.


Buy the 7" split here. It is well worth the vinyl. Or you can grab the digital album here.

God Townes - Big Branch
God Townes - W.H.A.N.S

Young Widows Crawl Out Of The Light And Into The Youthful Darkness

I will solemnly swear on a stack of Necronomicons that discordant Louisville Kentucky noise rockers Young Widows’ last album, 2008’s Old Wounds, was one of the most underrated rock albums of the last decade, showcasing a band willing to infuse their incessant squalls of distortion and dark angst with moody gaps and silences that most bands of their ilk are unable or unwilling to procure. I can't believe how little fanfare these guys get. They destroy, then resurrect so that they can kill again. They are a canny band, offering rock that cajoles as it bludgeons, sliding along in the darkness, seductive yet destructive. And they make the Apocalypse seem sexy.

Their follow up LP, In And Out Of Youth And Lightness (out on Temporary Residence, also about to drop Explosions In The Sky's new one - nice way to go guys!!) heightens the trio’s penchant for traversing the tightrope that separates the dark dirge of sludge rock from the dangerous sexuality of desert rock, yet does so in such a manner that is often jaw-dropping. The unrelenting crawl through In And Out Of Lightness explodes to a call and response ending that wouldn’t be remiss on a more psych tinged effort, whilst Lean On The Ghost’s repetitive broiling thunder perfectly encapsulates the themes of isolation and loneliness. First single Future Heart is as close as a straight up rock song as Young Widows gets – its rollicking and dark and addictive, and close to the weakest track here. Evan Patterson’s impassioned growl perfectly captures the brooding nature of lyrics such as “Seal up the cracks in my voice then swallow the pity like rain/To avoid the black cloud” from The Muted Man, while the brutality is always wavering, barely reined in, by bassist Nick Thieneman and drummer Jeremy McMonigle.

In And Out… is an album of constant doom and dirges – there aren’t many light moments here at all. But as the re-emergence of the excellent Swans last year attested, darkness is often far more exciting and liberating than the light. Young Widows take up the dark mantle perfectly. Seriously, get this if you want to know how to live.

In And Out Of Youth And Lightness is out now. The artwork is, as usual, brilliant. And what's more, you lucky devils over in the US get to see them live next month - with support from their BFF's (and SM mega faves of death) My Disco! If you dont go to this show, you're dead to me. Dead.

Young Widows - Future Heart

Young Widows - In And Out Of Lightness

Broken Water - Stars On The Peripheral...

I think that one of the most underrated bands of the past twelve months is definitely Olympia, Washington's Broken Water. I love love LOVE last year's Whet LP - it was one I didnt put in my top ten much to my chagrin, and should have been in there, not enough people havent heard it and should! (Here are two instances last year that I talked about this stellar album (count em, one...two...; plus a piece on their Nothing Normal Happened EP is here). Well they have brought us another release called Peripheral Star (out on Perennial Records) and it is fantastic! Opening with the title track, these tracks ebb and flow along the faultlines of grunge, no wave and pop, mining territory that early Blonde Redhead harvested before glamming up their production and arting up their vision - and the trio are producing far more impressive results. I cant even decide on a favourite track. Ive listened to this pretty much non stop since getting it last week. Its been the punctuation marks between all the other albums and releases that have set down on Planet Masala (and that's including the new Panda Bear, Ponytail, Young Widows and Lil Daggers albums).

I implore you - please get into these guys ASAP and buy this! They're a must!

Broken Water - Peripheral Star
Broken Water - Kansas

Watch Grails - Daughters of Bilitis

Grails'Deep Politics comes out March 8th - we featured a taste last week - and here is another one, just as deliciously dark and warped as ever. Im loving Temporary Residence's output this year - with the imminent Young Widows and Explosions In The Sky albums, its gonna be a huge 2011...

GRAILS - Daughters of Bilitis from The Fact Facer on Vimeo.

Young Widows Show No Heart - Thank Fuck

Old Wounds was one of the most criminally underrated albums of 2008. Fuck it - Young Widows is one of the most underrated bands out there. Here's hoping that their new LP, In And Out Of Youth And Lightness (out on Temporary Residence). Whilst having only heard the single 'Future Heart', this album promises to be a contender for best noise rock album of the year. Whilst still dark as fuck - it was recorded at a funeral home, just because I guess? - there is talk of much more expansion in the build up to the guttural explosions that YW are infamous for, which should to give them a much more devastating response. I am positively salivating at the brutal possibilities here! The tracklist is below:

“Young Rivers”
“Future Heart”
“In and Out of Lightness”
“Lean on the Ghost”
“The Muted Man”
“Right in the End”
“Miss Tambourine Wrist”
“White Golden Rings”
“In and Out of Youth”

In And Out Of Youth And Lightness isnt out til April. Cant wait that long? Grab the Future Heart 7" with B Side 'Rose Window' here - or hunt down one of the four 7" splits they did on Temporary Residence in 2009 (with SM faves My Disco, Melt Banana, Pelican and Bonnie "Prince" Billy) - too much Young Widows is never enough.

Young Widows - Future Heart

Getting The Night Terrors

I only came across Seattle's Helms Alee a fortnight ago, which is a god damned shame. The best band on Hydra Head Records (sorry Torche, you're just pipped here), they released an album back in 2008 called Night Terror. Its brilliant. Brilliant! I thought it was new - I wanted to put it on my top ten of the year - I now want to step back in time and hear it in its infancy, then spend 2 years listening to it... Its heavy, melodic, raw, yet well defined - its marriage of post-metal and shoegaze indie is engrossing, and astounding in how well its been executed here. The three piece (Ben Verellen, Dana James and Hozoji Margullis) trade melodic density, tremolo-stained guitar, churning bass and akimbo drumming with unauthorised efficiency, and the amazing guy/girl vocal interplay with their deft understanding of quiet and tense layered build ups adds further dimensions to each track. I love this album!!!!!!!!!!

Since then Helms Alee havent released much, although Verellen has introduced his own amplifiers that are amazingly crafted and used by the likes of Sleep, Young Widows and Against Me. However they have just completed a massive tour with the likes of the aforementioned Young Widows, along with Red Sparowes and Boris, and are finally reentering the studio with Night Terror producer Matt Bayles for an album ready for early 2011. In the downtime between then and now, get Night Terror. Its amazing.

Helms Alee - New Roll

Helms Alee - A Weirding Away