Rural Isolation Project
Quttinirpaaq‘s Matt Turner is condcucting a seance to summon the ’70s in a cement dirigible hangar. Coming from a long line of damaged Texan noise-punks like Roky Erickson, The Butthole Surfers and Pain Teens, Quttinirpaaq uses bad acid and bad horror movies as a gateway to a Dhalgren-limbo paradise, where Mario Bava‘s Demons dance the night away next to burning cars while Wolf Eyes and Helios Creed play and look on.
No Visitors is an essential transmission of blackened noise, dystopian soundscapes, tribal pounce and stoner groove;
it has everything a noise freak or headbanger could desire. There is a lovely, fucked-up organic nature to these textures, real old-world noise style, which married with the particularly brutal and gnarly plodding metal moods, is something unique and new; which is kind of ironic seeing as how it mainly employs traditional methods and sensibilities. Quttinirpaaq is referencing the ’70s as seen through a veil of beer, pills and insomnia, daydreaming a world of non-stop late-night cable, where the metal never stops. Look at the track “DmtBrigman,” a cover of the song “Dmt” by acidpunk
George Brigman, who made a
Stooges-meet-
Beefheart racket in the early ’70s in Baltimore. Matt Turner lives in a universe where Brigman is top of the pops, and all the kids carve swastikas in their foreheads. This is revenge of the nerds. This is a soundtrack to
Charles Burns‘
Black Hole.
The other tip of the hand is the next track “Bad Ronald,” with its machine riddims and dub shadows. We assume this is in reference to a made-for-TV movie from 1974, where Ronald accidentally kills a neighbor girl and is hidden in the walls of his house, and then forgotten. Ronald ends up degenerating into a world of fantasy, which takes on a life of its own when a new family moves in. This film is a decent analogy for this record:
it exists outside of society in a world of its own, where it is powerful beyond belief. The movie itself is beyond obscure, but utterly badass, full of ominous weirdness and creepy menace. Like
No Visitor,
Bad Ronald would probably be super popular if more people new about it.
A bunch of other sonic precedents have already been mentioned, but No Visitors also reminds me of Chicago’s Cave, Oneida, Trash/Gate/The Dead C from New Zealand and Skull Defekts, so if you get down with this, you’d be advised to check some of these others out. It’s probably the highest compliment when a bands gets you super enthusiastic and motivated about a style of music. This record has reminded me of my love of all things repetitive and hypnotic, and the unpredictable glory of pure, true, harsh noise – with a great beat and an awesome metal band. Dip in scuzz, press repeat, live in it.
No Visitor was pressed on 180-g delectable purple vinyl, so grab ’em while they’re there, or get it digitally. Just get it!
-J Simpson-
Quttinirpaaq‘s Matt Turner is condcucting a seance to summon the ’70s in a cement dirigible hangar. Coming from a long line of damaged Texan noise-punks like Roky Erickson, The Butthole Surfers and Pain Teens, Quttinirpaaq uses bad acid and bad horror movies as a gateway to a Dhalgren-limbo paradise, where Mario Bava‘s Demons dance the night away next to burning cars while Wolf Eyes and Helios Creed play and look on.
