Ranging deeper into industrial experimentalism on this new
12” ‘Phased Out’ (12XU), three piece from Melbourne offer up abstractions of corrupted
guitars, smokestack vocals, narcotizing
bass riffs and dogged rhythms.Within
this unwavering structure Duncan Blachford, Per Brystrom and Richard Stanley
freely roam; forging something renewed and riveting by testing this format to
and beyond its limits.Both tracks ‘Phased
Out’ and ‘Colleague’ get the remix treatment by Mikey Young and Rites Wild
respectively and only expand the possibilities of where Exhaustion could take
things next.Exhaustion is a band that
has been pretty solid for me and this 12” is another string to the bow.This is the third post and counting on
Exhaustion, now’s the time to go and check them out!
There hasn’t been a follow up
album more talked about than Royal Headache’s for quite some time.And, since ordering my copy online I feel a
little like I’m wading in after many glowing reviews have already sung its’
praises, I don’t know if anyone even needs my unprofessional opinion at this
stage, but here it is;‘High’ is 10
tracks of pure bloody joy.They’ve
written an album that’s raw, direct and fun, reflecting on reality in contrast to
fantasy.
The opener called ‘Fantasy’
explores this idea looking at everyday life being in a band compared to the
mythology of a “rock ‘n’ roll life style”.Chugging, hyper guitars, saccharine keys, racing beats and a rubbery
bass set the tone for the album, balancing total euphoria with a sense of restlessness.
This is pursued through the album,
particularly when we reach ‘Carolina’.Hall
hollers “now your future passions do you harm, you know you should have never
left the farm, somebody save her”, over fuzzed out guitars (Law) and bass (Joe)
held up by solid pop fuelled beats (Shortty).This is the first track to get a
video treatment off ‘High’, directed by Damian Sawyers and catered by Lawrence’s
Mum the video brilliantly shows the boundless energy that the record is chock
full of.‘Garbage’ is another song on repeat, I could
listen to that heady bass riff all day – “you’re as low as they come, you’re
not punk, you’re just scum, you’re garbage,” Hall protests in his fiercly raspy
register.Released via Distant and Vague
Recordings in Australia/NZ then What’s Your Rupture everywhere else the LP
seems to have disappeared pretty quickly, and it’s easy to see why. Leaving just as fast as they charged in ‘Electric
Shock’ certainly captures the manic pace on ‘High’, it shows the need for focus in a state of
agitation, existing in the middle somewhere is what informs these songs; and
the desire to breakaway, flip over and start again.
