Yuasa-Exide

Reviews

Yuasa-Exide Go to Hell Encyclopaedia Britannica cassette

Eleven tracks of scruffy, four-track psych pop from prolific Minneapolis singer/songwriter Douglas Bussan. Prolific as in twenty-plus full-length albums of distortion-cracked melodic gems that kind of sound like GUIDED BY VOICES or DEERHUNTER caked in several feet of dirt and grime. Bussan, joined by a revolving cast of friends on these DIY home recordings, has a gruff voice like a lo-fi TOM WAITS calling from a distant payphone, which grounds each melody with world-weariness and authenticity. There is a repetitive droning quality on tracks like “More Surreal” and “The Picture You Painted” coupled with a raw earnestness that pulls you in for repeat listens.

Yuasa-Exide Information and Culture + Naturally Reoccurring cassette

The lo-fi bedroom jangle of YUASA-EXIDE finally lands on hardcopy! From the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Douglas Busson and a close group of contributors have been making music under this band name since 2006, releasing albums directly to Bandcamp on Busson’s Ape Sanctuary label, with over twenty-five singles, EPs, and LPs on offer. YUASA-EXIDE’s latest two recordings (Naturally Reoccuring and Information and Culture, both from 2024), are packed on this Round Bale two-album cassette. The first releases of the band, nearly twenty years ago, are much more experimental, sparse, and noise-focused, featuring solo guitar instrumentals, distorted vocals, and mechanical grating. After undergoing spinal surgery from a 2021 injury, Busson could only play guitar lying in bed, where he proceeded to record the majority of his work under YUASA-EXIDE and where he developed something closer to the bedroom sound we hear on this cassette. That said, the experimental and noisy roots are not forgotten—songs like “Fuck You Duracell” feature ringing feedback and bleak, groaning vocals pushing out a bleaker-still subject matter, with lines like “When I say petrochemical / What does that call to mind? / It recalls to mine / The acidic slime.” Whether you’re an ardent fan or coming by with passing interest, this Twin Pax cassette offers a great take on the prolific YUASA-EXIDE.