Spitting Image Full Sun LP
Great collection of snaky, noisy post-punk jams from this Reno, NV band. Instrumental opener “Intro” gives a table of contents of sorts with strummed indie guitars that build with shimmering distortion and chiming, atonal layers à la SST-era SONIC YOUTH. This is punk, but it’s been soaking in psych, desert-dirge country, and deathrock, and left in the sun to bake. “Spirit Trouble Flash” builds and releases heavy guitars along syncopated drum beats until the chorus hits, and it really hits. Tracks like “Not This, Not This” and “Devil’s Bloom” pound a menacing bass and drums cadence until serpentine post-everything guitar lines creep in and hover over the sound like dripping icicles. “In Menace Meadow” takes us to the dunes with clean strums and slide guitar twang. Check this out when you’re in the mood for expertly produced dark, knotty punk.