Thrill Jockey continue their venture into noise territory with the first release from Eye Flys. The band is named after a Melvins song and with their own track titles like “Crushing The Human Spirit” or “Weaponize” and with rather sinister cover art, you probably have a good idea of what this six-track EP contains.
The heavy, angry guitars and cavernous drums of opener “Stems” engage with the dirtiest of bass sounds and squeals of feedback that fabricate an uproar to frame the growly, sweary vocals. Awkward tempo changes and a surprising brevity all add up to quite a surprise. The second track moves even quicker and the same vocal attack puts you on the back foot, but just when you think you have the measure of it, the rhythm doubles back, leaps in the air and sets off in a different direction.
There are reminiscences of some of the Amphetamine Reptile bands from the 1990s in the welts of feedback and the guitars swarming like flies around your pretty face. There is singing through gritted teeth on “Weaponize” which just sounds furious, but the track becomes frustrated as the group pulls back, not allowing things to flourish and instead allowing it to fester under repeated riffs and drum bursts. I can also hear elements of The Jesus Lizard and maybe Unsane, but the production is so purposefully muddy that the sounds all bleed together, producing a morass of sound that is propelled by the drummer. The final track has guitar and drum tempos at odds with one another, which sounds weird — but it moves like a raptor, sleek and far swifter than you would imagine, enough to take you by surprise and suddenly be yelling in your face. The guitar takes a turn for a solo, but it is barely audible through the sludge and then it is all over, the whole EP like a whirlwind blasting through and then disappearing into the distance.-Mr Olivetti-
