RIGHTEOUS BASTARDS – Volume 1 (CD, demo)
Posted: July 12th, 2007, by JGRAMHere are two guys very close to my heart, when they describe themselves as “righteous” the emphasis is very much on the “right” of their moniker. Packaged as if written and recorded by a couple of hicks, you gotta wonder what lies in the deep and dense plots of most rural Cambridgeshire from where this record originates.
Early confusion rains on the compact disc (technology has sure arrived with a vengeance in their town) as the booklet states four compositions but the CD reads as only containing two. Already I am in a kafuffle.
The muddy sludge that arrives with this record sonically reminds me of Earth and other such hateful doom mongers from that scene of distortion frenzied slo-mo metallers in addition to messy sounds that have been known to emit from types such as Mudhoney and Bardo Pond. If you have ever seen the movie Broken Flowers and the malice filled final visit Bill Murray makes to an old flame, that whole episode/scene is sound tracked by Sleep however this could just as happily take its place in sitting next to such frustration.
Clocking in at 25 minutes this is an exceedingly dirty sounding recording reminiscent of a recent golden age where guitars were turned to eleven and played with contempt as the instigators relished offending the audience in a devil may care manner akin to most aloof of heroin addicts. If I could place this record at the heart of a scene it would be in the midst of fully blown shit storm sound tracking a day of drinking beer, eating meat and firing guns. As one of their song titles acknowledges, they don’t believe in punishment, they believe in “Gunishment” (a level of humour you will either tap into or you won’t).
As to where exactly this music and attitude slots in with regards to the grand scheme of things is another question but for now I am happily impressed by the pleasant surprise of receiving the dirtiest piece of dirge driven doom perfect to get high and wasted to. The musical equivalent of Ritalin and just like the pill, I want more.
Thesaurus moment: upright.
JGRAM
JGram, friend of the stars, chartered accountant and pie enthusiast, likes nothing better than KICKING YOUR SKINNY ASS by way of a carefully-timed half-nelson followed by the CLOTHES LINE! OW! So never, never cross him. His dog Snowy is equally rockhard and will bite your lim bs off in the blink of an eye. And then paw your eyes out for blinking when he's biting you.
July 12th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Had this on very loud in the car after a certain Flower-Corsano Duo gig earlier this year, and everyone present was very happy indeed. Look forward to seeing these boys live.