Slump

Slump has retained the hardcore and sludge, but it would be hard to convince some people that this is punk-rock at all. (It is! And it isnt!) Lets mention Hawkwind. The UK space-rock group has become a template for riff-heavy acid-eaters over the past 40 years, and Slump is certainly in that line. It all opens with a riff that resembles the MC5s "Black to Comm" and quickly descends/ascends into the dirty sky above beneath inside outside us all. Dont expect an easy ride-this is gonna be a bumpy but very worthwhile trip. "No Utopia"? Theres a sane slogan for modern America. Whatever explicit message (?) may lie here is buried in volume and psychedelic mud. The hardcore urge beats the messenger to death again. I think thats a good thing myself. Evolve, baby-evolve! Things ROCK on "(Do the) Sonic Sprawl"-conjures up visions of Philip K. Dick and 1980s Sonic Youth and some sorta (r)evolution (no Utopia!). "Throbbing Reverberation" is the shortest track and another rockin jam. The title gives a strong clue. Forward-thinking metal fans should dig this. Imagine Voivod with a LOT of noise in the mix. Then things seem to get even darker. "Desire Death Drifter" comes on like 90s Japanese psych rockers White Heaven. And dig that space gurgle. Killer. I think this might be the "hit"! "Electric Dissent" is a militant acid stomp that sounds like a more condensed version of Hawkwinds "Brainstorm." At six minutes, "Sensory Cocoon" still manages to be one of the more rippin things here-a DMT cannonball hurled through punkspace. "Tension Trance" is another long-ish rocker-great heavy riffs pushing harder and harder into the cosmic slop. It all closes in heavy fashion with "Trip Sitter," a slow-burnin churner that splits apart about halfway through to reveal pure electronic swirl-before the rock rudely interrupts again. Hope ya dig a little bitter in yer sweet. Thats life, man. Killer diller-no filler! Gimme that heavy stoned slouch-gimme some Slump!" -Eddie Flowers, Vulcher/Gizmos/WLSD