Psychic Blood-Strain 7" EP (2011)

It seems like the cultural necrophilia vulture has full alighted upon the late '80s/early '90s. Like any revival wave, this one has had some ups and downs. The last time I was in Olympia, I saw a certain band, which shall remain nameless, shamelessly referencing....Staind. Seriously? What the fuck?

Psychic Blood lands quite opposite that strain of stupidity. I've read a lot of stuff calling them "shoegaze," but I don't think that fits. Both these songs are a bit too dynamic for them to fall among the MBV acolytes. The title track opens with a massive, rolling riff that eventually melds into contorted drumwork and snarled, echoing vocals-kind of like a grunge song if those assholes in Seattle were angry more than apathetic.

"Drudgefest" is just that: in the best grunge tradition, Psychic Blood melds fast punk aggression (especially in the blown out guitar) with slamming, brooding metal. The whole thing sorta just melts into squalling contortions towards the end.

This is a lazy review (I've been reading about this crap for 8 hours, gimme a break!), and I'm not doing Psychic Blood justice. They definitely tip their hat to more than a few Touch & Go/SST/Sub Pop luminaries on this EP, but their tightness and aggression really set them apart from most of this current wave of wanna-be-Seattle '91 kiddies.

You can download the "Strain" EP here. Or don't wait for the download and instead get high while listening to it on Soundcloud. If your copy of Tiger Beat magazine (do they still publish that thing?) hasn't arrived yet and you need some new teen heartthrobs, doods have pictures here.