Boxed In By Noisy Northern Weirdos

Earlier I mentioned an upcoming Box Records release, Girl Sweat's Bad Happenings. Well here are a few others that came out at the tail end of 2015/beginning of this year that also deserve attention.

Temporary Infinity is the third album from Newcastle psych-heads Haikai No Ku and it is as if not more unrelenting than their previous offerings. A cataclysmic wall of distorted dirge rolls in from the north, a steadfast maelstrom of monolithic monotony, with the squalls of guitar drawl licking at its heels, driven forth with plodding certainty by primal drumming - it's a gripping gruel of an album, and I absolutely love it. Sleep wishes they could hold down the fort in an apocalypse of their own creation like these guys can.

London noisy devils Casual Sect make one hell of a racket on The Hidden Persuaders. A calamitous catharsis, an implosive idiom, a perilous purge - Casual Sect wrap up their balls of broken punk noise with excursions into sound recordings and ruminations on David Icke and the Hadron Collider. The longest song here is called 'I Hate Jazz'. deliberately toying with what might be seen as an intellectual free jazz playthrough before devolving/evolving into a brutal thrash - as most of these spiked tracks are. Bow down at this destructive altar.

Not to be confused with the bewitching noise act also trailing around Europe, Unavailing is the album from the Bismuth who offer blood sacrifices to Sunn O))) doomsday soothsayers. The duo are infatuated with incremental sludge, as unrelenting as it is inevitable. Without a guitar - Bismuth are all about making bass and drums as tectonically destructive as their multi-membered, multi-stringed contemporaries. Yet they can achieve the same level of devastation without the sonic assaults too - see the quiet comedown of 'Of The Weak Willed' which holds off from the black mass for 14 of its 16 minute running time. It perfectly showcases their innate sense of patience alongside the penchant for obliteration - the world will come down, that is a given; but Bismuth will bide their time.

Flyblown Mutton

I got to see the diseased maelstrom that is Mutton in May last year when they supported Gazar Strips (during their Sparkling EP launch) and Scul Hazzards in the Grace Darling basement. The band were a force of nature, yet somehow vomiting vitriol in a controlled vein - it reminded me more of a latter-day Pissed Jeans show, or of Brisbane contemporaries Clever (hurry up and put something out guys!) I hope I have the opportunity to push these guys as a Sonic Masala band sometime in the future, as their brutish debut self-titled EP is closely followed up by 7” Flyblown. I say closely - I've had digitals of this for a long time, but vinyl delays (don't you love em?) have held off the fury until now. Aurally we step away from the pigfuck mantras a little - the anarchic dirge of 'Awkward' plays into the bloodstained embrace of Tom Waits and David Yow bareknuckling it in a carnival knockout in Hell - but then songs like 'Cocoon' are chaotic blasts of diseased glee. The band maintain a calibrated desiccation, a mid-pace march into the maw of carnage, laughing at the futility of it all. It all hinges on the maniacal howls and presence of Max Ducker, who looks like he has just shirked the butcher's apron but is still smeared in livestock viscera, brandishing a verbal cleaver, the corner of his mouth and whites of his eyes twitching in unison. Melbourne is strangely adept at carving out damaged noise punk that hits like blunt trauma and leaves you addicted to the aggression. Add this Mutton grist to your mill.

(NB - this is a painful reminder that I haven't got tickets to Pissed Jeans here in London tonight. Sigh. But I have scored a ticket to see Sunn O))) as part of Meltdown as curated by David Byrne. I am mightily tempted to go and watch while listening to this on the headphones. Fuck em all).

Buy Flyblown (in oxblood red, of course) here.

The Virtues Of Being Adrift In Gatton?

Ive waxed lyrical about Brisbane trio No Anchor and their new release, the double LP Real Pain Supernova, in the past (here to be exact) - Ive even interviewed them for other media - but did I tell you just how ace this album is? Probably not, but you should be able to guess. Its very, very fucking good.

Real Pain Supernova opens with restraint, the ambient sounds of ironically monikered 'The End' before the obligatory crunch of dirge-like bass guitars takes the breath away, as do the Ian Mackaye-like avuncular vocals that precede the abrasive screams. It’s this sense of controlled aggression and muscular musical promiscuity that really makes an impression here – 'Wolves Bite And Disappear' holds down a nitrous-injected blues beat across the breadth of its short running time, the breakneck ebb and flow (and anguishing howls) of 'Dead Pony', the Shellac-esque chug of the bass that underpins 'Come Again', also sporting the beautifully juxtaposing vocals of Joanna Nilson from Butcher Birds. Never do you get a sense that these guys are doing anything redundant, the music speaking for itself much louder than just sheer volume or the “novelty” of being a two bass/no guitar band could achieve.

Real Pain Supernova is a milestone of an album for No Anchor, who have never sounded more vital. This is perfectly highlighted by pivotal (and fittingly epic) epic track 'Gatton Bohemia' – a song in movements that has the trio showcasing their influences such as Boris, Sunn O))) and Om (the album was mastered by Mell Dettmer), then systematically pinning them down and beating them to death with their own instruments. It’s beautiful, harnessing the dark powers of feedback, dirge, sludge and post rock into what is, hands down, the best song about Gatton ever written.


You can buy the album here. For the love of whatever exists in your life as a semblance of a God, buy this. Then get down to Tym's Guitars this Sunday at 2pm for a free in-store performance!

No Anchor - Gatton Bohemia
No Anchor - Wolves Bite And Disappear

Expect Real Pain Supernova With No Anchor

Last year Flingco Sound System put out a sampler of bands on their roster, one of which was no Anchor. Their song 'Wolves Bite And Disappear' killed, and Ive been hankering for some of their joint ever since.

now, not only do they hail from my hometown of Brisbane, Australia, but on the 9th of May 2011, No Anchor hope to release their new album Real Pain Supernova. They would LOVE to guarantee that this album will be released but there are no guarantees in this world. None. The band could all die mysteriously between now and the 9th of May. They could all take up dice living and just decide not to do the band ever again. Things happen. The apocalypse might happen, you never know. They could all be dead by the time you read this.

But if not, enjoy this raw, apocalyptic album - hey maybe this will be the harbinger of things to come? It was mastered for vinyl by Mell Dettmer [Boris, Earth and Sunn O)))] and will be available in s 2 x LP format from the band's website www.noanchorband.com (and their bandcamp). When was the last time an Aussie band fucked with double vinyl? Almost all of the album packaging is hand made by the abrasive trio and their screenprinting buddy Matt Deasy. There are only 150 copies of these all up, 25 of whcih will include deluxe versions (AKA extra shit like shirts and woodcuts). THERE WILL BE NO CDs - they are as dead as Diana! However, a free/donation digital version of the album will be available online on the 9th of May 2011 here, which you can stream now below! Unless, that is, something bad happens. And it might.


If you havent picked up on this already, Real Pain Supernova is out May 9 (and look at the artwork! Stellar...) No Anchor will launch the sucker on May 13 alongside Undead Apes and Dreamtime at Brisbane's Woodland venue.

No Anchor - Wolves Bite And Disappear

Cave Dwelling Witchery

Seattle’s The Cave Singers are preparing to release No Witch, their 3rd full-length album and first with the ace Jagjaguwar label (home of Black Mountain and Women amongst others). What seems like a strange jumping of ship – their first two albums on Matador did well, and sound great – comes more into focus when the producer duties were filled by dark maestro Randall Dunn (the aforementioned Black Mountain, Sunn O))), Boris). The result is a lushness and depth that was missing from these blues folk fringe dwellers, as well as coaxing out the psychedelic roar that has shadowed their live performances.

It all opens innocuously enough – “Gifts And The Raft” and the great “Swim Club” evoke the vulnerability that alt-folk Americana inherently holds dear. The gear shift though comes in the form of “Black Leaf”, with its fevered guitar, tambourine, and singer Pete Quirk’s rambling rasp becoming a manic growl. It has a devilish swagger that has only ever been hinted at, and it clearly revitalises the band.

With the precedent set, No Witch runs into the hinterland in impressive fashion – the Eastern-tinged psych of “Outer Realms”, the whisky-fuelled CCR inflections on “Haystacks” and the amazing woozy space-out of “Faze Wave”. Closer “No Prosecution If We Bail” ties this menagerie up nicely with a short down-home visceral blues blast. Even when the three-piece return to their bread and butter, such as in the languid “All Land Crabs And Divinity Ghosts”, there is a renewed vigour present that electrifies.

Dunn’s fingerprints are all over this, no question – but you cant help that by releasing the beast, The Cave Singers have released there is another musical plane to be reached, and No Witch is a clear indicator that they are well on their way.

No Witch is out February 18.

The Cave Singers - Black Leaf
The Cave Singers - Faze Wave

Angels And Demons Brought Back To Earth

I have to laugh when I read forums that bicker about Dylan Carlson, the man responsible for drone doom. When he burst onto the scene in the early Nineties with his Earth persona, his grunge inflected minimalist dark masterpieces blew everyone away, and is the sole reason why we have Sunn O))) today. Then Earth disappeared off the scene for a bit, but many didn’t notice as the drone doom genre flourished. Then in the early 00s Carlson returned, riding a flaming horse of death, and his music mirrored this – an underworld version of the true Western. His sound now encapsulates the type of music Ennio Morricone may have produced if he was scoring the end of the world. Both directions that Earth have taken are brilliant in my mind. Im not sure where Earth could have gone in its earliest guise, and this spectral dark country music that he now specialises in is scary in its resonance.

And so we come to Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I, the first in a series of thematically similar releases that are due out this year. Earth returns to the drone, riff-empty ethereal ism of albums like Hex, yet remains light years away from the acid white noise of yesteryear. These five tracks meander through a sonic wasteland that is so visceral you can feel the murk, gunk, dirt and stench of a dying badlands. The use of cello in the title track add further gravitas, through not inhibiting the flow of the music by becoming an anchor. In fact that is the point – these tracks drift along at their own pace, both cynical and resigned to the fate of the world. Its dark, yet somehow beautiful in its apocalyptic malaise. This is not going to appease the purists who have not let sleeping dogs lie since Carlson returned in 2005, therefore the forums will continue to run bright with shouts of blasphemy, defamation and heresy. But seriously, Dylan Carlson is still a giant of brutal orchestral sonic beauty, and even though he has gone all hellish frontiersman, he rides his pale horse defiantly.

Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I is out on February 11 on Southern Lord Records.

Earth – Old Black

The Darkness of the Deep Sea

I have been flattered by the requests of bands to have their stuff heard by Sonic Masala (using the emails certainly pays dividends!) And one of the most exciting bands that Ive listened to this week has to go to The Deepsea Goes.

This wont be to everyone's taste - its dark, brooding, viscous stuff, with Paul White's abrasive vocal delivery mining Tom Waits if wailing and gnashing his teeth from the bottom level of Hell. And they are only a two piece - brother and sister to boot!!! (Sara, kick out the jams - The Blue & Red Marbles needs to jump outta dreamworld and into reality...)

They hail from Los Angeles, and I can't help but envisage this as a soundtrack to when the world all goes to hell and everything returns to tribal animalistic life, full of spit, fire, cum and fury. They remind me of an amalgam of two Aussie acts that played together at the Lexington a couple months ago, My Disco and Snowman - and as they are two of my fave small acts, it goes to show why I think The Deepsea Goes are awesome-o. They namecheck as influences, amongst others, Bruce Springsteen, CAN and Sunn O))) - even more awesome-o.

Check out album Oraoneiroi that you can get as a free download on Bandcamp as a clear example of the ferocity that they bring to the fore - then hunt down all of their back catalogue, start a petition and get them over here.

The Deepsea Goes - All Is Ripe (single)

The Deepsea Goes -There Is No Light (from Oraoneiroi)

The Deepsea Goes - Whos Awesome Cans - Hers! (from Epater le Bourgeois EP)

The Deepsea Goes - Ahimsa (from Reductio Ad Absurdum EP)