Reviews

Sinkhole

Ace of Spit Ace of Spit II LP

An experimental unit out of St. Louis, Missouri, ACE OF SPIT embraces atmosphere and organic decay on their second full-length foray. With roots firmly planted in minimalist guitar rock, the group’s raucous spirit and raw rumble pulls their sound over to the punk side, making for a rich listen. Just as soon as the melody of “Broadway Babylon” draws you in, the tribal drums and wandering leads of “Cole’s Chopper” leave you questioning just exactly where you are. The record is full of surprises like that, with basement-born buzz achieving unexpected range. The band reaches into the depths of instrumental surf rock and comes up to the surface with weird artifacts seemingly rescued from the bottom, as exemplified by the SHADOWY MEN-esque “Diaspora Rock” followed by the pulsating synth of “Parts List.” By the time we get to “Esther’s Room,” the waves are reduced to moonlit memories in the bleak, black expanse.

Cyanides Black Bricks EP

Debut EP out of St. Louis, giving us a grip of out-of-this-world, synth-garage-psych-rock multi-hyphenated tunes that do a great job of establishing who they are and what they’re here to do. The combination of sounds here is the kind of thing that would be soundtracking Frankie’s Tiki Room in Vegas—by that I mean a genuinely cool-without-trying oasis that provides respite from an otherwise crushing nightmare (in this case, the strip). Digression aside, these four songs are for fans of DEVO, RESEARCH REACTOR CORP, maybe even ROTARY CLUB, or anyone who likes a coating of sci-fi in their garage tunes. Will be keepings tabs on future releases for sure.