Rewind Reviews – Page 19 – 7th Level Music

Rewind Review: Nortec Collective – The Tijuana Sessions vol. 1 (2001)

I’d been looking for this album for a long time since hearing parts of it on a National Public Radio show that was highlighting techno and house music from Mexico made by Nortec Collective – a group of Mexican DJs and producers who often worked together. I found The Tijuana Sessions vol. 1 in a used CD bin for about three bucks last year. It was worth the wait.

Bostich’s “Polaris” gets the compilation off to a good start, mixing rapid snare beats with synth bass. Bostich has two other tracks on the album – “El Vergel” (which includes street band accordion and tuba to good effect. Yes, really.) and “Synthakon” – a fun dub track.

Fussible, Bostich’s frequent collaborator, has three tracks as well – “Casino Soul” (with fun electro bleeps and a swanky synth horn section), “Trip to Ensenada” (a great acid house track with cool reverbed synths), and “Ventilador” (his trippiest contribution to the record).

Another triple threat DJ on the record is Terrestre. He starts with “Norteno De Janeiro,” which is a great tune for late night lounging and make-out sessions in a nightclub on the Yucatan Peninsula. Second is “El Lado Oscuro De Mi Compadre,” which belongs in a Bond film or at least a cool 1960’s Euro-spy movie. Third is “Tepache Jam” – an accordion and tuba-heavy jam saluting Mexican buskers and house parties.

Plankton Man gets a double shot, first with “Elemento N.” Like Bostich’s “El Vergel,” it blends house music with traditional Mexican street music (bold horns, parade drums, and touches of Spanish style guitar) and mixes them well. His next tune is “No Liazi Jaz,” which brings in a bit of psychedelic fuzz to his house stylings.

Other DJs on the record include Panoptica, whose “And L” is a slick acid house track with trippy reverbed percussion, Clorofila (bringing us the super-loungy “Cantamar ‘72”), and Hiperboreal – whose “Tijuana for Dummies” is a good house track with no muss and no fuss. It’s just dance beats layered upon dance beats.

The Tijuana Sessions vol. 1 is a good house / lounge / dub record and well worth investigating if you’re on the hunt for such music. Just don’t take eleven years to find it like I did.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Bleached – Ride Your Heart (2013)

Ride Your Heart from Bleached (Jennifer Clavin – vocals, guitar, piano, percussion, Jennifer Clavin – guitar, bass, vocals, percussion, lap steel, Dan Allaire – drums) is a great, California sun-soaked pop-punk record about looking for love. The lead track, “Looking for a Fight,” has Jennifer Clavin warning a potential suitor to back off, but the following track, “Next Stop,” is about tearful goodbyes at the train station. Both have excellent guitar work by Jennifer and her sister, Jessica.

“Outta My Mind” has lovely vocals from both Clavins and instrumentation taking the album briefly into psychedelic territory. Jennifer Clavin goes back to wishing love would stay away from her and stop complicating everything, but it’s too good to avoid. However, when we get to “Dead in Your Head,” she roasts her ex for screwing up the great thing they had. She apologizes for her own bad behavior on “Dreaming without You,” in which she sings, “…I won’t hold you back. I know I’m a heart attack. You’ll be fine without me.”

“Waiting by the Telephone” could be their tribute to Blondie’s “Hanging on the Telephone,” because both songs have the same theme – anxiously awaiting the call of a lover. Bleached’s version rocks as much as Blondie’s, by the way. “Love Spells” has Jennifer Clavin first spurning love (“I don’t wanna see you no more. You keep on running back to my door. Told you once, yeah I told you before. Your love spells don’t work anymore.”), then hoping it returns (“Will I see you tonight when I open up my heart?”). It’s a clever song about the confusing nature of love.

“Searching through the Past” is a fine power pop song about missing a lover and hoping for a return to good times. It has great guitar solos by the Clavin sisters as well. The title track is not unlike a Pixies song with quiet verses backed with rock riffs that crank up during the chrous. “Dead Boy” is good, solid fuzz rock that builds to a sweet guitar fade-out. “Guy Like You” is about a guy who keeps breaking Jennifer Clavin’s heart, but she “can’t get enough” of him. It’s a sweet, sad song with lap steel guitar by Jessica Clavin that takes the song to a great, lonely place. The closer, “When I Was Yours,” builds to a wall of psych-fuzz bliss and leaves you hoping the track would go on for another five minutes or more.

The Clavin sisters thank, among others, “ex boyfriends,” in the liner notes to the album. The entire record is about them and the mindboggling nature of love, and it’s a fine salute to both.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Kills – Blood Pressures (2011)

I’m hard pressed to remember an album I’ve recently heard that starts off as well as The Kills’ (Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart) Blood Pressures.

“Future Starts Slow” is one of their biggest hits, and it’s for good reason. Hince’s guitar is like a haunting alarm and Mosshart’s pleading vocals (“…don’t ever give me up. I could never get back up when the future starts so slow.”) have both rock swagger and blues desperation. “Satellite” is another song pleading for more time to love as the Kills’ phone calls to respective lovers are cut off by bad satellite transmissions beyond their control.

“The Heart Is a Beating Drum” is a reminder to keep passion burning in a relationship. Mosshart sums up a hundred thousand sex life columns as she sings, “And you feel like you been here so many times before. It’s not the door you’re using, but the way you’re walking through it.” Hince’s guitar has this cool low fuzz to it well-suited for late night dalliances. There also this cool percussion that sounds like a sped-up Ping-Pong game throughout it that I love.

For having such sad lyrics (i.e., “I’ve made mistakes I can’t take back home. I love you just not the way you want.”), “Nail in My Coffin” has one of the best grooves and some of the heaviest guitar on the record. “Wild Charms,” with Hince on lead vocals, is a nice introduction to “DNA,” in which Mosshart references them (“True, I had those wild charms for you, but oh how my fire burnt them out.”) as she oozes sexual power and attitude.

“Baby Says” has a slick bass line throughout it and sounds like an early Blondie track. “The Last Goodbye” is a heartbreaking break-up song as Mosshart swears this will be the last time she returns to “half hearted love.” “Damned If She Do” has hints of heavy fuzz rock but the lyrics are pure blues. “You Don’t Own the Road” has Mosshart telling her ex that he doesn’t have a monopoly on loneliness and misery, but she’s willing to make him feel better (“Come on over if that’s the way you feel when you’re lonesome. Steal it back when you’re lonely.”). I love the way her vocals get slightly distorted in the chorus. They match the great crunch of Hince’s guitar work. The closer is “Pots and Pans,” in which Mosshart tells her lover that she’s done caring (“Ain’t enough salt in the ocean that care enough to keep you floating.”), and Hince’s fuzzy acoustic guitar draws a line in the sand.

Blood Pressures is solid rock about heartbreak and passion. Both subjects are easy to make sappy or over the top, but the Kills make it look easy. It’s not, because the road you have to walk to write songs like these isn’t easy. Most can’t handle it. The Kills did.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Gang of Four – What Happens Next (2015)

Guitarist and vocalist Andy Gill could’ve closed shop when vocalist Jon King left Gang of Four, but he instead reached out to many friends and collaborators and crafted What Happens Next – a fine post-punk record of dark themes with new vocalist John “Gaoler” Sterry.

The album starts with a sample of Robert Johnson from 1937 and then drifts into “Where the Nightingale Sings,” – a song encouraging Londoners to embrace new friends and neighbors instead of trying to live in a past that really wasn’t as glorious as they remember (“False memories, fake history, next you’ll talk of racial purity.”). Alison Mosshart of the Kills delivers vocals on “Broken Talk” (a song about a man seeking solace in prescription meds). “Isle of Dogs” is another track about living in a metaphorical London fog as Sterry sings, “Every day we invent the economy.” and “I buy in, to everything I see.”

Mosshart returns for vocal duties on “England’s in My Bones,” which is almost an electro dance track, but Thomas McNeice’s bass and Gill’s guitar keep it from straying out of post-punk territory. German musician and actor Herbert Gronemeyer contributes lead vocals on “The Dying Rays,” which is almost an epitaph for the British Empire (“Control and power, empires will build in our minds, but it will all go up in a blaze. Only dust in the dying rays.”).

“I Obey the Ghost” is a chainsaw attack on the Internet, social media, and how technology is making us lonelier than ever. Gill and McNeice bring dark guitars over electric beats as Sterry sings, “Online gods speak personally to me. They hold my hand in the community.”

The theme flows well into “First World Citizen,” with its lyrics of “Big appetites, those American guys. Chew up whatever the dollar buys.” That’s some truth right here, and there’s even more truth when you realize it’s a song about immigrants who would take any job any place to get where most of us are, even though most of us hate where we are. “I have lost everything, didn’t ask for anything. I would take anything, anything at all to be a first world citizen.”

“Stranded” is about first world rich cats who are secretly miserable. Robbie Furze of the Big Pink puts down lead vocals on “Graven Image,” and it’s a perfect track for him. Big Pink is a band that makes stadium-level electro, and this track has plenty of synth bass, programmed drums, and guitar fuzz, so it fits him like a tailored jacket. The closer, “Dead Souls,” is about the rat race that can ensnare all of us. “The world is rushing by. Everyone is on a roll, and I pass the time in the line of dead souls.” It’s not as dark as the Joy Division song of the same name, but it’s close in terms of the lyrics (“I’m not cut out for this role, and in the end I’ll join the line of dead souls.”).

What Happens Next doesn’t have a question mark in the title. Gang of Four isn’t asking us, they’re telling us. What happens next is a life caught in materialism, expensive medications we can’t afford or need, and trying to reclaim a past that never existed unless we snap out of it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Flaming Lips – Embryonic (2009)

The Flaming Lips (Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Michael Ivins, Kliph Scurlock) aren’t known for making traditional albums. One album, Zaireeka, was meant to be played on four different stereos at once while you stood in the middle and let the sounds wash over you. The Terror was a doom-psych record about dour subjects. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was a psych-pop masterpiece. Embryonic is a wild, trippy record about the illusions of reality and breaking free of them and the transmigration of souls.

“Convinced of the Hex” is loaded with poppy synths, empty swimming pool vocals, and distorted drums as lead singer Wayne Coyne sings about a woman who has seen things as they really are while Coyne wallows in illusion (“She says, ‘You think there’s a system that controls and affects. You see, I believe in nothing and you’re convinced of the hex.’”). “The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine” has Coyne wondering what it might be like to shake all illusions (“What does is mean to dream what you dream, to believe what you see?”) as the band knocks out drum and bass beats with psych-synths behind them.

“Evil” has Coyne regretting his inability to warn a friend of people who would betray him / her. “See the Leaves” is a haunting song about death and reincarnation, with heavy synth bass, haunted house guitar stabs, and industrial drums. “If” is another song about the dark side of others, and the follow-up, “Gemini Syringes,” might be about the space race, the zodiac, or both. I know it’s a lovely, trip-out tune with water drop-like drums and ice cream truck keyboards.

The zodiac is a prominent theme on the record. There are instrumentals called “Aquarius Sabotage,” “Scorpio Sword,” and “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast.” There’s a song called “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” in which Coyne sings about being “free to be slaves to this silver machine.” Is it an actual machine? Is it Coyne’s laptop computer, and thus the World Wide Web? Is it something he saw in a vision? We may never know.

“Your Bats” is a heavily distorted song about a person’s nightmares, whereas “Powerless” is about a woman trying to convince Coyne that everything isn’t as bleak as he thinks it is. The distant feel of the song makes it seems like he’s not entirely convinced. “The Ego’s Last Stand” is another cut about destroying our illusions. Coyne sings, “The only way out is destroy all traces, oh, destroying yourself.” The bass purrs like a great cat and the song briefly explodes into fuzzy rock before settling down into a mix of birdsong, synths, and lyrics that border on beat poetry.

“I Can Be a Frog” is about a woman wondering how she might return in her next life, be it a frog, a tornado, or anything in-between. A woman (Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs no less) laughs and makes animal sounds behind Coyne’s playful vocals. You can hear him chuckling a couple times in the song. The heavy fuzz of “Worm Mountain,” and its rat-a-tat drums, is great. MGMT help out on the track, bringing additional vocals and synth grooves. The song is a reminder that death will come to all of us (“Through the mist, a bell rings clear, but the ring is just a sound of your starburn burning out.”), and we can all hope it’s this trippy and cosmic.

“The Impulse” is written from the perspective of an angel or, by the sound of Coyne’s heavily synthesized vocals, an alien (or are they one and the same?) trying to free someone from their illusion of reality, but the person would rather stress over their appearance and “shapeless urges.”

“Silver Trembling Hands” is a tale of a woman who covers up her fear and paranoia with heavy drug use. “Watching the Hands” reminds us that not all is doom and gloom as Coyne and Karen O sing that “the sun’s gonna rise and take your fears away.” The song is like a mantra with its beats and continued chants of “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.”

It’s a lovely and creepy record. Facing truth can be frightening, but the Flaming Lips remind us that the reward at the end of such a journey is freedom and peace.

Keep your mind open.

Rewind Review: Dead Meadow – Feathers (2005)

I’ve seen Dead Meadow (Steve Kille – bass, Mark Laughlin – drums, Cory Shane – guitar, Jason Simon – guitar and vocals), twice in concert – once opening for the Black Angels in 2011 and then again at Levitation Austin (when it was still known as the Austin Psych Fest) in 2014. They put on a heavy, trippy show that I enjoyed both times, so why it’s taken me so long to pick up Feathers is beyond me.

Feathers is not only heavy on riffs and percussion, but also themes of heaven, life, death, and reincarnation. “Let’s Jump In” is a great start, inviting us to jump into their heavy psych sound as they sing about springing from “the face of the Almighty” and jumping into life with both feet (often literally at our births).

The lyrics in “Such Hawks, Such Hounds” sound like something out of a Tolkien story, which isn’t a surprise since Tolkien is an admitted big influence on them. “From the boughs of the oak tree, three ravens wail over his cold bones lying as they are.” It’s a haunting story of a warrior’s death and his hawks, hounds, and maiden protecting his body from scavengers.

“Get Up On Down” is a lament about being caught in the wheel of reincarnation. “If I’m back again, I’m done after the next one,” Simon sings. The guitar work swirls around like incense smoke and builds to a soaring send-off. “Heaven” is more cosmic psych and a retelling of the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac. “At Her Open Door” is Lovecraft-like prose (“From the heights of the town her handmaids will announce her undying presence within her seven-pillared house…”) as guitars swell and fade with near-surf rock touches before smoothly cruising into Eastern Indian rock, and the drums are great all the while.

“Eyeless Gaze / Don’t Tell the Riverman” is a great example of the “Dead Meadow sound” – ethereal vocals, mantra-like cymbal work from the drummer, and breaking dawn guitar work that almost overwhelms you at times. Like early Pink Floyd? You’ll love “Stacy’s Song.” “Let It All Pass” is another dreamy psych track about fading from this life to the next (“All things in time when nothing will last. Lord, I don’t mind. Let it all pass.”).

The CD version of Feathers ends with a 13:44 untitled bonus track that is nothing but epic cosmic psychedelia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wrote it after walking out of a sweat lodge. The guitars come at you from all angles, the solid drums keep you from floating away into the ether, and the vocals are like distant chants you hear on the wind.

It’s a spiritual record, a psychedelic record, and a bit of a haunting record. You have to be in the right mood or have the right kind of weather for it, but it’s perfect when you need it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Early Indiana Punk and New Wave: The Crazy Al’s Year(s) 1976-1983 (2014)

I’m a Gen X’er, which means I grew up in the 1980’s, and I was among the first and last true punk rockers at East Noble High School. I was in a garage band (Stranger Yet) and spent my Sunday nights at a punk rock club (after which this blog is named) in a dive bar attached to a seedy hotel on the east edge of Fort Wayne, Indiana. So, the Early Indiana Punk and New Wave: The Crazy Al’s Year(s) compilation is right up my alley.

It’s a stunning collection of rare singles and live cuts from bands that mostly played in the Bloomington, Indiana area (the location of the short-lived club Crazy Al’s). Where Time Change Records found some of these cuts is beyond me, but I’m guessing they had a lot of friends involved in the punk and new wave scenes back then who contributed some of the recordings. I’m also guessing Time Change Records employs some of the best crate diggers of all time.

The two-disc set has many standouts. The Jetsons’ “Genetically Stupid” sums up how many people felt about us punk freaks back then, and Dow Jones and the Industrials’ “Can’t Stand the Midwest” sums up how us punk freaks felt about everyone else back then. Your Grocer’s Freezer’s “We’re All Gonna Die” is a perfect example of the nihilism that was always on the edge of the scene, especially when we all thought nuclear war was coming any second.

Want pure punk? Repellents have two solid punk cuts on the collection – “Technorama” and “AFC!” – and the Slammies’ “P-U-S” is another good choice. Cheeses from France’s “Heart of Gold” is wonderfully weird and almost a krautrock track. The Gizmos proudly display their love of the New York Dolls on “Mean Screen” and “Mommy’s in the Kitchen.” Joint Chiefs’ “I Hate Pretty Girls” is an anthem for awkward guys who were spurned or insulted by the cute girls in school.

It wouldn’t be an Indiana punk collection without the Zero Boys, and they have two fine tracks here – “Commies” and “I’m Absent.” We’re Jimmy Hoffa were a punk band that loved John Carpenter movie soundtracks, and their song “Rock ‘n Roll” is something you’d expect to hear at a club in Carpenter’s future NYC as Snake Plissken cracks heads on the dance floor.

I can’t help but think that the parents of the lead singer of the Panics were laughing as he sang “I Wanna Kill My Mom,” because the song is pure snotty punk hilarity. Dancing Cigarettes’ “Pop Doormat” sounds like the Kinks if the Kinks decided to become a new wave band. Last Four (5) Digits bring in a goth touch on “Don’t Move” that is somewhere between Bauhaus and early Wall of Voodoo. Cast of Thousands brings an angry Brit-punk sound on “War Maker.”

Amoebas in Chaos bring back the fun with “Have You Slugged Your Kid Today?” and “Ronald Reggae” (which is live punk chaos with saxophone and plenty of guitar feedback). E-in Brino’s “Watch Alarm” is fine post-punk with heavy synths and and near-frantic vocals. Vibrato Fetish rounds out disc 1 with the rocking “Surf Bandits.”

Yes, all that’s just on the first disc.

There are plenty of prime cuts on disc two. The New Avengers’ “Mary’s in a Coma” is a lost 1980’s track you swear you’ve heard before and is even better than you remember it. The Positions’ “Follower of the Space Race” is great new wave, sounding like a mix of Devo and the B-52’s. Your Parents’ “Whiplash” is heavy post-punk, and “No Substitutions” shows their Ramones influence. The Race Records’ “Baby Take Me Back” brings rockabilly into the mix.

Lip Service’s cover of “Money (That’s What I Want)” is full of skronky guitar and peppy organ, and MX-80 Sound’s cover of “Paint It Black” is a slick instrumental. The Obvious’ “Feelings of Love” sounds like an early Blondie track. Hugo Smooth’s “Won’t Play Bumpum Cars” is so new wave that it wanders into a jazz lounge hosted by Frank Zappa. Club Pressure’s “Slinkin’” is fine punk-reggae, and the Shouts’ cover of “Gloria” (which seems to have always secretly been a punk song) is outstanding.

It’s an essential mix of Midwest punk and new wave acts, and God bless Time Change Records for putting it out there for us old schoolers and new fans alike.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Bully – Feels Like (2015)

In case you missed it, Nashville’s Bully were the breakout hit of the first Middle Waves Festival. Bully (Alicia Bognanno – vocals and guitar, Stewart Copeland – drums [not the guy from The Police], Reece Lazarus – bass, Clayton Parker – guitar) flattened the Maumee Stage there, which shouldn’t have surprised me since their 2015 album Feels Like is so hard-hitting.

Starting with the sizzling “I Remember,” the band comes out with fury Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers would envy and vocals Jennifer Finch of L7 would love. If you can imagine Joy Division being a power pop band instead of goth overlords, you might be able to imagine how they could’ve made a song like “Reason.” Parker’s guitar work on it is superb.

“Too Tough” evokes the good kind of 90’s alt-rock. The kind that made good hooks and mixed them with heavy riffs and discernable vocals instead of the just screaming about how much he hates his father. Lazarus’ bass line holds the song together. I think he’s the band’s secret weapon. “Brainfreeze” follows this trend and is one of the catchiest songs on the record. “Trying” bounces back and forth between cool catchy verses and growling, shouting choruses like a forgotten Pixies song.

Lazarus’ thick bass is front and center on “Trash,” and Bognanno’s vocals are both heartfelt and even a bit frightening. I love the way the band seems to collapse into madness during the chorus, yet holds it together with expertise. Copeland’s cymbal fills are like alarm bells going off while Parker and Lazarus’ instruments run around in near-panic.

“Six” seems to be a love song sung to someone who’s depressed over the way they’re perceived by others. “Fuck those jerks,” Bognanno sings. “They don’t know you like I do.” “Picture” has great fuzz from everyone, even Bognanno’s vocals and Copeland’s drums seem to be filtered through half-broken amplifiers.

“Milkman” was Bully’s first single (released in 2014), and I still don’t know why it didn’t race across the nation like wildfire (Screw you, corporate radio!). It’s a sharp debut that captures the band’s live energy (and tight instrumentation) well. “Bully” is another wicked cut that has some of my favorite guitar work on the record. It goes from angry fuzz to pop-punk and dips its toes into the psychedelic reverb pool now and then.

“Sharktooth” is a kiss-off to an ex that brings Copeland’s drums to the front almost like a Who record and then the rest of the band builds a wall of sound like a line of War Boys cars from Mad Max: Fury Road.

It’s a fine record, and one that was being blasted in a Ft. Wayne record store the day after their Middle Waves performance. People were buzzing about them the entire second day of the festival, myself included. They and this album do what any good band or album should, make us hungry for more.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Gravel Drag – Sly Fox (2014)

I love a good instrumental, and Gravel Drag‘s (Chris Bowyer – bass, Ben McKinney – drums, Steve McKinney – guitar) Sly Fox EP has four of them. All are tight stoner rock tracks that each clock in under four minutes. Gravel Drag doesn’t have time for spacing out for long stretches. They’re too busy making hard-hitting swamp metal.

“War Beast” sounds like Helmet and Sleep met in a dark alley and got into a fight. Ben McKinney’s drums remind me of classic Helmet fills and Steve McKinney and Chris Bowyer supply the heavy Sleep-like riffs.

“The Legend of Sly Fox” is peppier than “War Beast,” but it’s no less heavy. I love how crisp Ben McKinney’s snare is in this. “KnockoutKing” is a knockout. Loud, squelching guitar, one-two punch combo bass, and mosh pit drums all equal a great tune.

The closer is “Radio Curse,” and I wonder if the title refers to the lack of radio play for instrumental riff rock like this. Bowyer channels his inner Peter Hook with his bass at first and then drops stuff heavier than Hook ever did in Joy Division.

It’s a shame this is only a four-song EP because it’s heavy enough to be a full album. An LP from these guys would probably have the mass of a dwarf star.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Baby Jesus – self-titled (2014)

Hailing from Sweden and claiming to have formed after “an intense trip to India,” Baby Jesus’ self-titled album is a wild mix of psych, garage, and surf.

“Nothing’s for Me” opens the record with a swirl of cymbals and blaring guitar before the horror movie organ kicks everything into high gear. The vocals are frantic, almost “Wooly Bully” ramblings. That means they’re a blast, by the way. “Trembling Away” continues the madness and the organ blares through everything, which is a feat considering how damn loud and bonkers the song is. “Havn’t Seen the Light” is, despite the typo in the title, sharp as a tack. The guitar is like a buzzsaw, the drums are punk, the bass is a jackhammer, and the organ is an alarm klaxon.

“Don’t Want You” could be a Stooges song if the Stooges had a keyboardist as crazy as Baby Jesus. Imagine Animal from The Muppets on a Hammond B-3 instead of a drum kit and you’ll get the idea. “Nice Walk” is a surf instrumental. Yes, after four songs of psychedelic madness, Baby Jesus drops a surf number on you that sounds like they reached through a wormhole in space-time and grabbed it from a record store in 1965.

“Cry, Cry, Cry” isn’t a cover of the Johnny Cash song (although that would be great), but it is a wild breakup song with enough cymbal crashes for an entire record. The title of “Deep Blue Delay” might refer to the delay effects pedals used on the guitars in the song, but it’s probably about something trippy that happened to the band in India. Regardless, the guitar work on it is crazy with plenty of distortion and reverb. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a Theremin mixed with it. “You Make Me Fry” is another lambasting of a bad relationship, and “Vansinne” is a swanky psychedelic lounge tune with fantastic saxophone work.

“Time’s All Gone” is a fitting title for the last song on any record, and Baby Jesus makes the most of their last track by, believe it or not, scaling back the cacophony. It’s the mellowest track on the album, with echoing vocals, groovy synths, and that surf sound they do so well.

I hope these guys are working on some new material, because this full-length debut is a good omen of what’s in store for them and us. I hope they tour with Goat. That would be a mind-melting double bill.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-deEFVrMAFk