New Music: True Primes, Mammatus

True Primes - We Have Won (Locust 2007)

True Primes - We Have Won / Locust

"Shambolic" is an under-used term in the American language. Of course the British use it properly, it is their language after all. For example: "Liverpool's defense was utterly shambolic on the night". Its all a shambles, a total mess, not really functioning like it should. We get so used to things functioning like way they should. Often times concision becomes too expected in music as well, even supposed surprises fall within the spectrum of expectation. Everything comes so totally stylized nowadays, even the truest of black metal bands adhere to a narrow form and yeah, that Prurient record is really brutal but thats what I expected. We Have Won, the first proper release from this Brooklyn duo, almost sounds like a total accident, songs slowly soldiering on, the drums at times kinda off, dark turns coming out of nowhere, not just challenging typical forms but conceptions of what "released" music should sound like.

Alot of music is amorphous, totally capable of flipping the script, and I'm not arguing against Kid606-like curveballs but even sometimes even the deftest maneuvers come off contrived. True Primes don't have any tricks. If anything the band sounds like a bird learning how to fly. Certain parts sound out of place or incomplete to my overlearned ear. Its all endearingly raw, coming off more spontaneous than jazz dudes diving into impenetrable theory. These songs are strung together by feeling, sounding more like the perfect practice sesh caught on tape than anything at all premeditated.

The title track has a listening-in feel, like hearing your neighbor's band practice next door. Tentative interplay between guitar and drums with slight humming sounds like maybe we started listening too soon or they started the tape too soon or something. Its all kinda uneasy hearing these two musicians find an understanding. The floating, intimate vocals of Rolyn Hu and chaotic musical underbelly provided in part by Che Chin reminding me alot of Jandek's classic, "Nancy Sings". "In The Surf" starts off like a sloppy beach party beat, everyone dancing in stop-motion, the drums persisting ever more erratic as it fights against waves of ominous synth. Here once again is the wonderful interplay between Hu and Chin, this time Hu's vocals taking on some Yoko Ono-type theatrics, and near the seven minute mark morphing into what the Magik Markers might sound like on a particularly good Valentine's Day. "13 Houses" is another loosely strung gem and showcases True Primes' penchant for pop experimentation. Hu's processed vocals sound otherworldly along a bed of warm electronics and that slow, unsteady beat that by this point is totally welcomed, like a good friend or a strong liquor shot on a cold day. "We Have Won (Reprise)" closes the record nicely, a delicate number that brings to mind Galaxie 500 at their best.

So its nice to think this is all accidental, amateurish stuff, and hopefully it is, but the True Prime's We Have Won asks a good many questions about listener assumptions. These songs wander with purpose, finding incredible heights in the awkward, fresh outta the box feeling of being in a new band, and its fun watching them find their feet, always stepping in the direction of something great. Also, its worth it to note Che Chen is the founder of the O'Sirhan Sirhan zine and Rolyn Hu curates Brooklyn's Glassland Gallery, a definite hotspot for artland vortex activities.





Mammatus - The Changing Wind (Holy Mountain 2007)

Mammatus - The Coast Explodes / Holy Mountain

"Behold the power of my wizard staff!"? God, how did I get here? Maybe it was the exposure to mind-expanding visions of alternate worlds, from Legend to He-Man, at a time when such odd things wedge themselves in deep, dark corners of the brain, only to come flooding back in adolescence and adulthood. I still get hit with an odd wave of attraction to comic book stores and the World of Warcraft because these things strike deep chords. Its all idealized, yeah, Brody from Mallrats embodies a worthy rolemodel in my mind, and I know its just a way of prolonging childhood, but geeking out is a true link to childish enthusiasm, a vital trait typically ground into submission by the weight of the world.

Mammatus is a band keeping it real. Live footage of the band could easily be settled in a northern California commune circa 1970, the band clad in trippy robes, donned only when the moon is right to conjure the right spirits. But this is the here and now, Mammatus claim Corralitos, CA as home, a metropolis of 2,500 people located in progressive Santa Cruz County, a place where marijuana is virtually decriminalized. Despite sounding like a mystical beast, the band's name actually refers to mammatus clouds, breathtaking monster cloud formation often appearing after tornadoes, looking like a celestial battleground protruding into the earthly realm.

The Coast Explodes is a panegyric to the sea. Recorded in the last throes of summer 2006 after a lengthy US tour, this record is Mammatus recharging their collective battery, jump-starting their souls in the spiritual homeland, delivering a sonic homage to God's mighty ocean. "Dragon of the Deep Pt. 3" opens the record with a twelve minute jam, burning at both ends with the rugged groove of the first six minutes or so, dual guitar leads riding a thick, precise Can-like bass groove. This track brings to mind a good many reference points; Sabbath, Hawkwind, Sleep, Molly Hatchet, all the sleeveless rock-n-roll glory is present here. Vocals kick in almost ten minutes deep, some whirlpool wizard rising from the depths to speak directly with a ghostly full moon. "Pierce the Darkness" exhibits the band's tightness, sounding like Soft Machine sitting around the desert with Matt Pike, the song eventually giving way once more to skyward looking twin guitar solos, this time evoking the warm washes of Growing with the slight twist of Slash's windswept solo in "November Rain". "The Changing Wind" is there suddenly, taking you to a peephole deep within a coastal cave. Druidly vocals echo off cavernous walls, somewhere a fire is burning, druids dancing ceremoniously around the flame, complete with their own master flutist, the meeting ending abruptly by an invasion of sea lions. The title track wraps up the record, another twelve minute behemoth, dirging heavier than anything else on the album, veering into Sleep-like inertia, slowly unfolding with the certainty of colliding glaciers.

Be sure to catch this band of marauding rock-n-roll explorers on tour this spring with Acid Mothers Temple. I caught the show in Asheville with both bands in majestic form. Watch out for the wizard staff!! And also be wary of Acid Mothers' ability to totally alter your outlook on life. Go see, hear, and feel this stuff live! You can be the rocky California shore to Mammatus' crashing waves of sound.