Ismatic Guru Crocbrain, or, Two Big Steps for Mankind cassette
Another wild release from the gutters of Buffalo, NY. ISAMATIC GURU sounds like Mark Mothersbaugh fronting early WEEN. At times, the music sounds like it could be theme music for an episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and at other times, it sounds like a mad scientist drum machine experiment gone awry. There’s a feeling that it could all fall apart at any moment, but it never does; it’s tightly orchestrated with skronky guitars, drum machines that move like a cityscape, and bass lines that hold the fort and keep a cohesive thread throughout. Clocking in at just over five minutes, the songs themselves feel like short bursts of punk-fried krautrock, rather than fully fleshed-out tunes. It’s a fun listen and it sounds like they had fun making it. The vocals add to the chaos; they feel like they are part of an inside joke that you weren’t part of but now you’re in on it, too. I found myself repeating the line “Go a little easy on the salt next time” randomly for like a week straight. No frame of reference or context provided, but it wormed its way into my brain and that’s gotta mean something. Overall, it’s fun and dare I say funky, but funky in more of a “my bandmate hasn’t showered this whole tour” way than a “did you hear that dentist shred that eight-string bass solo” way. It won’t please everyone but I found it to be a breath of fresh funk in a season dominated by hardcore releases.