Thursday, December 6, 2012

Toxic Parents-s/t CS (2012)

Toxic Parents' debut tape is further evidence, following on the heels of last year's Sarongs tape, that Upstate New York is the unlikely locus of a vibrant no wave/artpunk scene.

I wanna substitute an account of the last time I took 'shrooms for a real review of this tape: it sounds like the soundtrack to a long, convoluted  trip.  Toxic Parents songs plod along at a glacial pace, letting you soak in all the shrieks, howls, and found sounds you could ever want while nodding out in a pile of your own puke.

"Inherit" is a vicious stew of rumbling drums, dual, fighting vocals, and guitar that sounds like steam engines hissing. Underneath that there's something that sounds like a trumpet; oddly, the song is funky in a very whitepeople sorta way. "Cavity" sustains the mood: one could call this noise dub. The song drifts along in a trashy haze, with a heavy beat, yet atop that beat is a wave of pure negation: squalling guitar and incoherent, muttered slander and imprecations. "Growing" breaks this mood a bit, and might as well be an outtake from the "No New York" compilation. "Provide" slides back into the groove: more undulating bass, and that insistent, tribal beat once again do heroic battle with twisting, hissing guitar noise.

This, along with Ferns' Dreamdecay EP, is the best noise album I've heard in 2012. Toxic Parents draws on the misanthropic sounds of Detroit's Blight, while developing a rhythm section that almost makes you want to dance. In a very erratic, seizure-induced sorta way.

Listen to the tape, then buy it, here.

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