Exorcisms - self released #2

I just connected the dots today that Hannah from the Exorcisms was a vocalist in all the White Murder singles I covered a while back. The only things they have in common might just be the tempo and punk spirit of both projects. Listening back to Exorcisms first single, this one further fuses their glitter garage sound with hardcore pop letting loose with an ugly mess of guitars and noise.

A-Side's "Scripted Lines" opens with an overdriven crunchy guitar over caveman toms and sliding headfirst into a bobbing burst of muted chords for the verse. David Lopez is delivering these lyrics without calculation sticking to instinct of where they'll land, separating thoughts in aid of this tempo and sound. It explodes into a brief moment of fills and hyper melody for the refrain that comes back with it's own distorted cut up memories blasting chords like the Hot Snakes. Breaking into an obscene crunch and the suffocated squeal of a solo before repeating that whole thing all over again, sticking to the explosive parts even more. The arrangement is dizzying, the back and forth between tempos forcing room for the guitar to stick it's head out just before they go into a tunnel again somehow getting faster and pounding harder all the way to the end.
On B-Side's "This Might Hurt a Bit" harmonic reverb chunky notes are all that accompanies David and Hannah while they lay out this lyric nearly a cappella before going revival prom night with jangly guitars and that shit eating beat. The slow dance is broken up by a Jesus Lizard/Bleach style convention of gravelly fuzz that deliberately brought serious pyro to the gymnasium. David keeps that crooner vocal style going on the top of this heavily compressed crunch that eventually takes over becoming the center of the universe. They really let the decibels go and sucker punch you at the end, making off with your date. All I can hear is incredibly thought out arrangements and a microscopic level of detail in the guitar performance and sound. Who the hell is going to step up and put out their third single? DIY 'aint cheap.

Go get this from these guys direct on their band camp page.

Exorcisms - self released

Exorcisms, based in LA, play a ragged, busted up blues. I was watching Repoman the other day remembering how broken and crazy Los Angeles looked in that movie to a small town kid who didn't even know what seven inches were yet. It makes perfect sense to me that the West, the very end of the country, the final stop for all lost souls would lend itself to that genre of expression. Don't let the climate fool you, nothing is sunny and perfect.

A-Side's "Love Gone Bad" is dragged throught the back door like the echo beaten blues track it is... beaten with a garage feel to this they let the grit and fuel fly through these distortions. David Lopez even seems to have a slight bit of overdrive on his vocals and he isn't afraid to push things into the red on the mic or his vocal range in exorcising some kind of relationship. This could be a distant relative to the glittering prom rock 50's of Shannon and the Clams or Hunx. David's blue collar vocal isn't as theatrical, but the harmonizing ahh's from Hannah of White Murder or William Fowler are those tandem backup sunny harmonies in this sad bastard fest. Like Mark Lannegan with a full band, it's a bluesy back of the bar closer. The final track for the night, clearing out the drunks. A siren call to their alley's. Exorcising the drunks from their stools and the last few bucks from everyone's pockets. I don't want you no more. The rest of the band comes in, they saw it coming, it's no surprise. Then this protagonist goes beating himself up even more.

B-Side's "Two with Half" jumps back and forth between kick and snare with feedback and a stumbling stutter guitar with thick distortion fills in the spaces between those empty hits. It predictably rocks out, the blues can't ever stay quiet, and this turns into a Black Keys classic huge rock from down in the basement. You can hear the space that surrounds these guys, it's all been done in the same room together, that spirit of bendy blues and using that energy from each other to make things a little bit harder, it defintiely isn't the looking back and reminiscing of the A-Side. They're forward looking, barreling don the freeway this time, bass line driven. The lyric would have you think otherwise but it's the soundtrack to a tough party in a dark alley.

Get this from their band camp page.