Destruction Unit : Deep Trip

Destruction Unit are; Ryan Rousseau, Rusty Rousseau, Nick Nappa, JS Aurelius and Justin Keefer.  They're a noisy rock band from Arizona.  Since a few line up changes and settling into a five piece the band have released cassettes on their own Ascetic House and a debut LP called 'Void'.   Since making their mark with cacophonous punk Destruction Unit have been picked up by Sacred Bones for 2nd album 'Deep Trip'.  These eight new songs amplify the vortex of crashing sounds forged from psych and rock you may have come to know in previous releases.  "The World On Drugs" opens the album with stormy fuzz, crashing rhythms and bellowing vocals sounding just about as volatile as it gets, and from here the album doesn't let up for a second.  "Slow Death Sounds" shifts things up another gear with delirious vocals, warped guitars and rampant drumming pushing the song to it's limits before sharply coming to an end.  Another favourite track is head-spinner "Control The Light", a raucous track that walks in the steps of punk but in different shoes.  'Deep Trick' is a great new rock album, it's great new rock for that matter, when you're done listening to this it will make everything else you have on your ipod seem like a waste of time. 

Oblivians : Desperation

Oblivians are back with their first studio album in 16 years.  'Desperation' (In The Red) sees the return of rampant garage-rock-blues stylings they're known and so well loved for.  These 14 blistering new songs are unmistakably our favourite Memphis trio as they beckon 50's rock 'n' roll, 60's garage, soul and blues.  During their break Eric, Gregg and Jack have been continued to write music (Reigning Sound, Parting Gifts, Jack-O & the Tearjerkers, The Dutch Masters, True Sons of Thunder to name a few) and what sets 'Desperation' apart from previous albums is you can hear how working apart has brought something new to the table.  The songs sound more slick without losing the wild and rambunctious nature of their approach.  A great example is "Loving Cup" featuring hyper chugging rhythms, smokey vocals, crunchy guitars and a savage guitar solo sailing over the top of the whole thing.  From there The Oblivians continue to turn up the heat with brawlers like "Run For Cover", "Fire Detector" and one of my highlights "Oblivion".  'Desperation' finishes with "Mama Guitar" playing out scratchy strings, rock 'n' roll howls and thumping beats seeing the album blasting on all cylinders before it leaves you in the dust.  Really great new record, when it comes to trailblazing rock songs Oblivians dish 'em up in spades.