C’mon, let’s go space trucking. Just kidding, instead take a ride with the longhairs at Sweet Nothin, and they will explain the truth about the future and the new generation in the course of one exquisitely rocked out communiqué that has been recorded for posterity. The opener, “Not Cool,” is totally cool because it starts out rumbling and tumbling into a combination of overdriven guitars, pounding bass and sharp drumming that will either drive listeners from their caves permanently or at least force them to take shelter with eldritch elves. Each track is a relentless foray into cock rock that’s bigger and mightier and more loaded than units produced previously, from Deep Purple to early Mötley Crüe—a bit of Motorhead and MC5 thrown in to make the whole thing stick means that this shizz rocks. Favorite track: closer “Rock N Roll Fever.”
Lady Uranium Vulpes Macrotis (Ubik Sound)
Here’s a record by Lady Uranium. It’s a luxuriously limpid record from the beginning, recorded with the utmost precision by the folks at UBIK Sound, which I guess has something to do with local sound wizard and hero of the music department Manny Rettinger. The result of this interaction—which was created in the studio—verges toward a place that is beyond beautiful. The vocals are haunting, the use of percussion and piano is sublimely disturbing yet compels listeners to bury themselves in the narrative. Inflected toward a glitchy brand of new wave that comes off here as timeless, listening to this record feels like something I’d like to be doing in the year 2063 as I approach my hundredth human anniversary. On “We Were Once Dead,” the singer chants in a high register that becomes a breathy, dark litany. But I’m alive listening to this. Favorite track: “Leaves, Trees, Light, Meat.”
Various WEEDIAN Volume 2 (Blues Funeral Recordings)
Okay, I’m going to be really up-front about this. You know what this record is about, right? You know you dig this heavy dark and potentially soul-stealing sound, but what the funk, you only live once. I’m so sure you grok all of this I’m gonna finish by listing some of my favorite tracks from this Satanic sing-along. Bongtower’s “The Way of Knowledge” defies genre yet remains espooky as hell, grinding as it goes. “Pagan Worship” by Clouds Taste Satanic (Thanks, Wayne Coyne!) could be played at midnight on the day of the solstice while a large flaming rock descends from the sky. It all ends with the evocatively mesmerizing “Pendulum” by The Pilgrim. You want more? There are 22 tracks in this beautiful black book.
