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Slush Premiere “On the Silver Globe” from Lizard Skin

Posted in audiObelisk on March 27th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

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Brooklyn trio Slush make an offering of Lizard Skin on March 29, self-releasing the seven-song/50-minute long-player as their follow-up to the fuckall charm of 2016’s American Demons (review here). An current of experimentalism runs beneath the tube-blower fuzz of songs like “Golden Seam” and the slow-marching “Skeleton Queen,” prevailing through a sashimi-raw production that makes its anti-presence felt quickly on opening track “Graveyard,” however misleading — and there’s intent behind that, make no mistake — the leadoff’s punkishness might otherwise be, like if Ramones grew up listening to Nebula, or maybe the other way around.

Fuck it. Point is, Slush come out throwing curves at your head, and that doesn’t really stop just because once “Graveyard” and “Golden Seam” lead into the title-track and “Skeleton Queen” there’s a little bit of context for comparison. It’s freaked out. Not in the same way as the psych-blamo of the three-piece’s alter-ego unit Hot Knives — why not combine the two bands; Hot Slush; you’re welcome — but freaked out enough to make the title-track a down-home acoustic grunge number with a considered arrangement of backing vocals and some accomplished noodling. Because when you’re going to have expectation take a back seat, you might as well just tie it to the roof of the car instead.

Them Slushies cap side A with the slow-nodding tonal thickness slush lizard skinof “Skeleton Queen” and drift into hypnosis past the halfway-point of the tracklist centerpiece only to cut to feedback and turn out a more active ending, driven there by the restless drums of Tom Barnes as bassist Joe Dahlstrom and guitarist/vocalist Alex Boehm careen around the newfound central groove. It’s plenty heavy but a locked in moment all the same and soothing for that, a quick bit of security ahead of the B side’s own headed-out movement, which begins with “Megalodon,” renewing the vocal approach of “Graveyard” atop a shuffling progression that leads to a noisy solo late in the track with enough swagger that it’s easy to roll with it.

And of course before they get down to business in the 12-minute let’s-just-do-it-all-at-once finale “On the Silver Globe,” there’s “Cortex the Killer,” a mostly-instrumental (but for the last minute or so) exploration of Western-style acoustics and string-ish drone that’s no less trance-inducing than anything “Skeleton Queen” brought forth, but of course in its own context. And maybe it’s the initial lumber of “On the Silver Globe” that takes my weary head to the Melvins, but the start is barely the start of what the capper has to say, digging into earliest-Electric Wizard-style unabashed Sabbathery with reckless glee and teasing the inevitable into-oblivion jam a couple times before the actual point of departure. I won’t spoil it, but once you’re inside, there’s no getting out. Not that you’re looking for one.

The thing about even that stretch of freaky freaked-out freakery though is that Slush know what they’re doing, and that’s where the biggest distinction comes in between Lizard Skin and American Demons. For sure, both have exploration as a key component, and I expect and hope that would continue to be the case with whatever Slush might do next, but there’s a sense of purpose behind these songs that brings them to a different level in terms of execution. Side A makes that plain and side B reinforces it, with “On the Silver Globe” as something of a victory lap for the accomplishment of their intent.

Keep an open mind and check out the premiere of “On the Silver Globe” via the player below. Some comment from the band follows. Album is out Friday.

Please enjoy:

Slush on “On the Silver Globe”:

“On the Silver Globe” is a stolen title — I got it from a movie by Andrzej Zulawski, one of my favorite directors (most famous for his gorey, psychedelic rumination on infidelity, Possession, starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani). Silver Globe was supposed to be Zulawski’s magnum opus. It’s a visually stunning sci-fi masterpiece to rival the best by Tarkovsky, but to make a long story short it’s a miracle the film ever got made (look it up! the history of the movie itself is wild).

Sonically, I was really trying to stuff everything I love about rock and roll into one song. I wanted to weave blown-out, dense riffs with a heavy garage drone and still maintain a hypnotic, entrancing effect throughout… I remember bringing it to the band and Joe and Tom gave real movement to it right away, which was the missing necessary element for such an excessive, indulgent song. It always feels good when a song clicks right away. Although my memory is terrible, generally speaking, I do recall playing it for the first time and us all taking it in the same direction pretty much instinctively.

The undulating feel Joe and Tom both give the song also inspired the lyrics, which loosely allude to a Lovecraftian tale of human sacrifice by drowning and subsequent transcendence into outer space. Each song on Lizard Skin has a similar underlying narrative and together they compose a complete, semi-secret story that lies beneath the album’s surface. As the last song on the album, “Silver Globe” also serves as the ending to that story.

Out March 29, Lizard Skin was self-produced and mastered by Bob Weston of Chicago Mastering, and will be pressed as a double LP on natural white vinyl.

SLUSH is:
Joe Dahlstrom (bass)
Tom Barnes (drums)
Alex Boehm (guitar and vocals)

Slush on Instagram

Slush on Bandcamp

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