ALBUM REVIEW: USA/MEXICO - "Laredo"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/06/2017

Label: Riot Season

This is the kind of garage rock where the car is still parked inside with the engine running, warping the bands minds with fumes.   “Laredo” is an awesome offering from USA/MEXICO, a perfect blend of dumb headbanging heaviness and tripped-out weirdness.

“Laredo” DD//LP track listing:

1). Possum Trot

2). Laredo

3). Yard Of The Month

4). Windsor Park Hardcore

5). Dumber Rock Riff

6). L.A.

7). Bullets For Pussy

The Review:

Sometimes it’s a beautiful thing when a record is exactly the sum of its parts. USA/MEXICO’sdebut LP “Laredo” delivers precisely the kind of glorious sonic muck one would expect from a trio featuring members of Todd, Shit and Shine and Butthole Surfers.

“Possum Trot” sets the tone for a queasy ride into a nightmarish noise rock world, with the emphasis firmly on the noise. Punishing knuckle-dragging riffs pummel the listener into submission while unhinged robotic vocals and shrieking feedback heighten the air of unease. Imagine Part Chimp jamming with the robots from the Smash adverts and you have a good idea of the addictive insanity on offer here. The band hone this approach to perfection on “Yard Of The Month” and “Dumber Rock Riff” while the title track and “Bullets For Pussy” see the Shit and Shine influence come to the fore yielding maximum impact from relentless repetition.

USA/MEXICO deliver their own distinct brand of grindcore on the brief chaotic terror of “Windsor Park Hardcore” while “L.A” offers a vague nod to more melodic territory. Thankfully it’s only a minor concession though in the form of some lead guitar that lends the track a dirty Stoogesfeel. This is the kind of garage rock where the car is still parked inside with the engine running, warping the bands minds with fumes.

“Laredo” is an awesome offering from USA/MEXICO, a perfect blend of dumb headbanging heaviness and tripped-out weirdness.


“Laredo” is available here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: The Cosmic Dead - "Psych Is Dead"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/04/2017

Label: Riot Season

Somehow the band manage to make relentless repetition sound like a captivating journey into the unknown, packed with more subtle detail than a million prog metal odysseys.

“Psych Is Dead” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Nuraghe

2). Psych Is Dead

3). #FW

The Review:

Sometimes just one chord can be a whole lot heavier than an onslaught of riffs. The Cosmic Deaddemonstrate this in style over the first half of stellar new LP “Psych Is Dead”. “Nuraghe” is a yawning 22 minute black-hole, a hypnotic mantra with an inescapable density. The track is based around a shuffling monochord groove that ebbs and flows between eerily blissful calm and outbursts of molten distortion. Somehow the band manage to make relentless repetition sound like a captivating journey into the unknown, packed with more subtle detail than a million prog metal odysseys.

The Glasgow astral voyagers thankfully provide a little respite after this epic mind-melting trip with the title track of “Psych Is Dead”.Layers of clean guitar loops and warm synth drones build up to create a wall of transcendent soothing noise. Drums are kept subdued and distant which help the band create an enveloping ambience reminiscent of “Beaches and Canyons” era Black Dice.

The calm is soon shattered by the closing crash of “#FW”.Another one-chord affair, this differs from “Nuraghe” due to its single-minded dedication to a pounding primal snare thud and guitar clang that builds up an unstoppable head of steam towards the albums close.

If “Psych Is Dead” it is because The Cosmic Deadhave destroyed it and created something dark and intoxicating from its smouldering remains.

“Psych is Dead”is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook