Red Mass

Reviews

Red Mass A Boy and His Robot EP

It’s hard to believe that Roy Vucino’s RED MASS project has been around for fifteen years now. An amorphous collective that can manifest as ten people on stage or just Roy at home with his four-track cobbling together lo-fi collage rock, RED MASS keeps you guessing as to what kind of mask they’ll be wearing when you pick them up for date night. On this 7”, they look backwards to the garage-adjacent rock they kicked their run off with. The title track recalls Vucino’s alien-in-our-midst contemporary Timmy Vulgar, but that unmistakable SEXAREENOS strut confirms that this is Vucino through-and-through. “Millionaire” nicks the guitar lick from GREAT PLAINS’ classic “Letter to a Fanzine” for a compact screed dissing the financially-advantaged, while “Addicted” finds Vucino and HPENNY DIVING’s Chantal Ambridge laying down a heartache-laden duet. Here’s to another fifteen trips around the yellow mass up above.

Red Mass Volume 4. Love & Magik cassette

Here’s the thing—Volume 4. Love & Magik is a cool, sultry garage/psych slog that sets a mood and sticks with it, the kind of release your (grand?)parents would have listened to in the woods (if they had record players in the woods), and it would have felt dangerous. But here’s the real thing…it’s not as cool as it should be. This should be a transformative journey into darkness, but instead it’s a lurching garage/post-punk jammer that’s like, you know, pretty cool. “Black Mass” is the only real burner on the tape and it’s shit-hot, but shouldn’t that one be creepy as fuck? Sometimes you should be able to admit when you want…more.

Red Mass Kilrush Drive LP

This is RED MASS’ first LP, which seems strange since they have been releasing records since 2008. RED MASS is an eclectic group of musicians led by Choyce, formerly of LES SEXAREENOS, THE DAYLIGHT LOVERS, and many other bands. Their music is an amalgamation of post-punk and modern garage rock. It’s fuzzy with pointy edges. It slowly creeps to the edges of the room. The vocals are serious and intense, but subtle. The combination sounds really nice.