High Noon Kahuna Stream Killing Spree in Full; Out Friday
Frederick, Maryland-based trio High Noon Kahuna self-release their debut full-length, Killing Spree, this Friday, Nov. 18, and yes, the headline here is the stylistic blend. If you find yourself thinking something along the lines of “Morricone-infused heavy black metal surf punk? really?” and wondering if such a thing could exist, the answer is a resounding “sure.” Come on, it’s the year 3000 or some such. We’ve got all kinds of crazy shit now.
The real story of High Noon Kahuna isn’t so much that they did the thing in terms of mixing disparate styles, but that they did it and made it work. And in what’s probably a fortunate turn for them, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Paul Cogle (Nagato, Akris, Black Blizzard), drummer Brian Goad (Nagato, Internal Void) and guitarist Tim Otis (Admiral Browning, Akris) are less experimental and less outwardly wacky in their presentation than one might think. That is, Killing Spree, which runs six tracks and 34 minutes, nine of which are dedicated to closer “Sandstorm” alone, is surprisingly light on chicanery. But that turns out to be the key. Perhaps the band was born out of a desire to do something different, to find a niche to which no one had yet laid claim, and their success in across these songs is as inarguable as Cogle‘s rumble beneath the Dick–Dale-but-from-Norway guitar line of “Sharktooth,” but if they had come out of the gate with some asshat goofball nonsense, in all likelihood, Killing Spree would’ve fallen flat. It very much does not.
Now, I’m not about to accuse High Noon Kahuna of taking themselves too seriously — even their moniker makes doing so idea ridiculous, let alone the music — but going into the album, opening cut “Parachute” makes it clear at the outset these songs are not a joke. Frenzied and shouting over its tense verse in a way that’s post-hardcore in the way Kylesa was, the lead track informs the audience, crucially, that they mean it. And “Danger Noodle,” which follows immediately, is an album highlight that rises from its initial fade to chart a way forward for the band as a whole in its clearheaded stylistic blend. With Satyricon-style swing-riffing at its foundation, it nails the balance of tone and rhythm, and in another context could probably be positioned as goth or high-art post-punk or some such critical wonder, but as is still sets itself on fire with its late guitar solo and cares less for where you put it than for its own declarations, which are resonant. The aforementioned “Sharktooth,” in instrumentalist fashion, leans toward the surf aspect and plays a bit with effects in the second half, but stays on target ultimately and is shortly over three minutes long like a classic 45RPM on a juke box in your alternate reality malt shop. All nostalgia is false nostalgia anyway; you might as well change the past.
There’s an element of shimmer in Otis‘ guitar throughout “Another Way Around,” which feels born of ’90s punk and maybe even a bit of alt-rock and runs a current of distortion almost as a drone line beneath its brighter melodic verses, which seem to answer 
“Danger Noodle” in showing a bit of influence from Michael Rudolph Cummings of Backwoods Payback — or else they just both really like Neil Young — while the penultimate “Black Lodge” takes hold with a broader seven-minute runtime in lead-up to the band’s finishing move, taking its guitar line for a swaggering walk early in surfly meander while gradually building toward the noisier assault that resolves in intertwining layers of feedback. And when “Sandstorm” arrives, it does so in a hurry of call and response guitar and bass leading into its verse, coherent like “Another Way Around” and less about mashing these (somewhat; because let’s be honest, we’re still basically talking about things-you-can-do-with-guitar here) differing aesthetics together one into the next than creating a genuine meld from them and coming out of it with something individual.
The first movement of “Sandstorm” culminates shortly before four minutes in — more feedback! — and High Noon Kahuna harness big-slowdown doomly crashes for a couple minutes before Otis squiggles out the guitar over the lumbering. The noise is the last thing to go and there’s plenty of it, but it’s important to note that even as Killing Spree seems to be setting the parameters of who High Noon Kahuna are as a band, it’s also willing to bend its own rules. What should be taken away from that is the sense that Killing Spree isn’t a one-off so much as the beginning of a larger creative progression. One never knows for certain what the future will bring, but even in their instrumental stretches, High Noon Kahuna seem to have more to say and in addition to everything else they accomplish in these tracks, the sense that they’re interested in exploring further comes through plainly.
To bottom line it for you — because we’re just about there — there are two things you need to know. One, the band isn’t a joke. Two, they pull it off. I’ll not predict where they might go from here, end up in terms of sound or songwriting or style or anything else, but not knowing that is part of what makes the material so exciting, since the potential avenues spread out like the stinging tentacles of some giant prehistoric jellyfish. Weirdness über alles. Not universal in its appeal, but searching to commune with fellow open minds.
Give it a shot and see where you land. You can stream Killing Spree on the player below. If you do and have any thoughts either way, I’d love to know about it in the comments. Thanks for your time.
And please enjoy:
High Noon Kahuna on Killing Spree:
“While difficult to characterize, the High Noon Kahuna sound is a 100% organic blend of influences from Surf, Noise, Punk, Western, Shoegaze, Black Metal, and Doom. Our vibe formed naturally via freestyle jamming and has grown into its own unique force. We are so excited to release these jams to the world! We love what we do and hope you will, too.
We’d also like to thank our team (who are absolute professionals in their field) Kevin Burnsten from Developing Nations, James Plotkin from Plotkinworks, Leanne Ridgeway from Mettle Media PR, and the unbelievable art of Jon Moser, who all helped make this dream a reality!”
Preorder link: https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/album/killing-spree
–Links for the credits in the quote:
https://www.instagram.com/developing_nations/
https://www.plotkinworks.com/
http://www.mettlemediapr.com/
https://www.jonmoserjraws.com/
High Noon Kahuna is a trio of veteran heavy music musicians based in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. region of Frederick, Maryland. With Tim Otis on guitar (Admiral Browning / Akris), Brian Goad on Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys), and Paul Cogle on Bass and Vocals (Akris / Black Blizzard).
With the vivid cover art created by Jon Moser, ‘Killing Spree’ was recorded in the Spring of 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland, at Developing Nations by Kevin Burnsten. Mastering was done by James Plotkin at Plotkin Works.
Killing Spree – Tracklist:
01. Parachute
02. Danger Noodle
03. Shark Tooth
04. Another Way Around
05. Black Lodge
06. Sandstorm
High Noon Kahuna:
Tim Otis: Guitar
Brian Goad: Drums
Paul Cogle: Bass / Vocals
[…] Frederick, Maryland based noise rock/doomgaze trio High Noon Kahuna featuring members of Internal Void, Admiral Browning, Akris and The Larrys streams their debut album »Killing Spree« in advance at The Obelisk! […]