SLICK SCALPS

Artist: Sic Alps
Album: Pleasures and Treasures
Label: Animal Disguise

This overloaded album of feedback and feverish hallucinations was recorded in San Francisco and Mendocino CA in 2005, courtesy of Mike Donovan (Big Techno Werewolves), Bianca Sparta (Erase Errata), and Adam Stonehouse (The Hospials), with Flying Luttenbacher wild-man Weasel Walter doing the mastering. The current incarnation of the band is now a duo consisting of Donovan and Matthew Hartman (Cat Power, Coachwips), so theres no telling what they actually sound like now. But on this release, they destroy rock music to the point of absurdity and beyond, completely drowning your point of view in a garbage dump of distortion and abrasive noise overlaps. Somewhere inside, hollowed out vocals moan out a druggy dirge of busted melody, at times completely obscured by the onslaught of psychedelic sludge. Imagine Royal Trux in their smacked-out Twin Inifinitve days, with crunching guitars jangling in and out of rhythm to tampered time and complete obliteration. It isnt a very settling listen, but the unpredictability and cacophonous jubilee make me a fan, and when it rocks, it fukkin rocks (see track 5). Take a ride with the slow-moving guitar chugs of righteous repulsion, shredding song structure with a machete along the way.