Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 13 Dec 2019
Tracklist:
1. Head Ooze
2. Possession
Without even knowing it, today has been a very good day. The blog's received over 1200 hits today so far and it's the weekend. I have a couple of things in the planning stages but this evening I thought I'd re-visit a band that I featured back in March 2017, when I reviewed their EP "Teenage Graveyard Party". Experimental band Heavy Baby Sea Slugs from Texas (USA) has just today released a new two-song EP via bandcamp (what are the chances of stumbling across that!). I thought it'd be cool to write about it, as well as the band's 2016 two-song 7" in a double review.
it feels strange in 2019 to be writing about a band that doesn’t have a social media presence. Yes they’re on Spotify, but there’s no way to interact with them other than through the Heavy Baby Records page on Facebook, which appears to be a little dormant at the moment. Either way, let’s not stop that from spoiling the music of HBSS and this two-track release is literally hot off the press (although not physically). Head Ooze kicks things off with heavy sludge riffs and pounding drums, before giving way to a faster tempo and weird garage-punk/Dave Mustaine inspired vocals. There’s a horror-punk thing going on during the verses but it doesn’t stray too far from the doom/sludge atmosphere that was offered up early on.
Second song Possession is no different, with hypnotising grooves and audible yet projected vocals. Some staunch purists may consider this to be slightly contrived, but I’m not getting that at all. It’s noise-rock at it’s noisiest but also catchiest. As referred to earlier, there’s plenty of experimentation throughout and plenty of different sub-genres at play. After nearly three years without a release, HBSS have come back and are well worth getting behind. Let’s hope these two songs allow them plenty of momentum as they head into 2020.
Stream and download "Head Ooze // Possession" below:-
Labels: Heavy Baby Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 15 May 2016
Tracklist:
1. The Minotaur
2. Trout Fishin' Man
HBSS's musical output dates back to 2013 but I'm not going to that far back just now. Instead, I'm going back to what is their only vinyl release to date. "The Minotaur // Trout Fishin' Man" was released on 7" via Heavy Baby Records in May 2016, as far as I can tell.
This release pitches HBSS in slightly rawer territory, musically. The Minotaur contains harsher vox but still the same level of groovy guitar work that graces their newest EP. It lurches at a slower pace and sounds a lot more sinister. The experimentation that HBSS is so proud of is obvious within it’s bars too, even though the backbone is more mesmeric and atonal.
You’d expect a song called Trout Fishin’ Man to be a happy and carefree song, but instead it’s a ravaging guitar-led noise fest that seems to get faster and faster in tempo. It’s chaotic for sure and the use of what sounds like a whammy bar throughout is both brilliant and annoying in equal measure. That’s not a criticism though as this sort of music isn’t supposed to be considered easy listening and HBSS don’t do things in a conventional way.
EP's like this capture a point in time, where only music can. Heavy Baby Sea Slugs may only be slithering forward but that’s better than withering away.
You can also stream "The Minotaur // Trout Fishin' Man" below, where it's also available to buy on vinyl as well as digitally:-
Heavy Baby Records - https://www.facebook.com/heavybabyrecords/
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