Fugue State

Reviews

Fugue State In the Lurch cassette

I got very excited when I opened my review cassettes and saw this release. I was sent the debut FUGUE STATE cassette for review when it was released and I absolutely loved it. This project was originally a solo project which was presumably birthed out of necessity thru height of COVID isolation times. The sophomore FUGUE STATE cassette, which is also available on vinyl in limited quantity, is a full-band recording, and it sounds absolutely awesome. This is some fuzzed-out, garage punk psychedelic shit. Hell, there’s a note-for-note FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND guitar lick on “I’ll Keep It in Mind,” straight off the first track on Satori. Nice nod. I was a bit apprehensive when I noticed that five of the six songs from the first FUGUE STATE demo were on this subsequent cassette. It was a relief to hear that they are all full-band recordings, not a re-releasing of the original demo tracks again. I could go on and on, I really dig this. I am truly happy to see that FUGUE STATE has morphed into a full live band and I hope to find a way to see them play live in the near future. Now, where’s that damn link to buy a vinyl copy of this, because I absolutely need one.

Fugue State Subtlety’s Dead cassette

As time continues moving on and the world gets more and more back to “normal” in this perceived post-COVID world, the one and only thing that I feel sad for is the amount of cool isolation-inspired solo projects beginning to fade—for a number of months, that made up the majority of tapes I was sent to review. There was something incredibly beautiful and inspiring about the resilience of the creative punk rocker left to their own devices and having to make something work alone in order for it to exist at all. Well, FUGUE STATE is coming to me rather late in the game, but it just may be my absolute favorite of all such COVID projects I have yet heard. Beautifully crafted and demented driving garage rock tunes with more hooks than a meat locker, and some killer saxophone playing on two of the tracks. FUGUE STATE combines elements of tons of classics without  sounding like aping them at all. Highly recommended for fans of the CRAMPS and BUTTHOLE SURFERS. Truly top-notch. I have no idea if this Western Massachusetts-based solo project has made the transition into being a live band, but dear god, I hope so.