Welcome to pure fuzz madness.
Thee Arthur Layne‘s HVY DRT VOL I sounds like a blown speaker parade and the bass has emphysema. Dummer Angel Ledezma, guitarist Adam Scott, vocalist Jason Walters, organist Zach Schnieder, and bassist Sap Defiler masterfully pursue the avant-garde-blues-rock with a keen sense of self, or maybe it’s more of an inebriated sense of everyone else. This witches brew of heavy psych rock seems to be a visceral response to the modern sounds of Chicago’s scene. It’s apparent now that a lot of bands have moved away from the earlier era of heavy music, borrowing instead from the new wave and pop framework, but Thee Arthur Layne puts fresh flesh on an older frame.
This two song EP walks a tightrope between Black Sabbath and Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion, at least that’s the way it comes off when the stereo is dimed. Adam’s guitar leads intersect the bass and drums without stepping over the vocals or masking the drawl of fuzz beneath–this is exactly what very many guitarist fail to do when they are left unaccompanied. In “Father Friendly,” we experience the strange and perfectly ambient organ of Zach sitting pretty between Sap Defiler and Angel. The bass and drums really end up being the instruments that drive these songs. With those slow notes and dramatically late down beats, they have given time to Jason to pull his big chested vocals out from his gut.
The hard slow hitting “Scorpion Crawl” is the perfect soundtrack for a drug induced altercation, and inspires me to challenge people to arm wrestling contests. It’s the kind of song that makes you confident in your very own badassery.
You can find the 7″ at Laurie’s Planet of Sound or Bric-A-Brac, and is available now, or order it online at Wholeso.