Miscomings / Sea Moss Big Tube Scene split CD
Portland, Oregon duo SEA MOSS starts this split off with pure sorcery of gnarly synths and electronics layered on top of masterful drumming that conjures rhythmic seizures. Even though it’s stripped down in its instrumentation, it’s by no means a type of music you could call minimalistic. It’s very “extra” in every way that actually counts, and scratches a part of my brain that not much else can reach—that explains why I fell in love with this split in the first ten seconds. And when we switch over to the MISCOMINGS side, we are greeted with more of a conventional band setup of guitars, drums, bass and vocals…but of course, the music is anything but conventional. It’s extremely chaotic, unbelievably fun, and reminiscent of some of my all-time favorite bands PRE and LOCUST. From eerie and deranged melodic parts to noisy, grinding sections, MISCOMINGS deliver all that you could ever need from a noise rock band. I know I wouldn’t be able to do it justice if I were to dissect their sound further, so I’ll just say that it’s some of the best music I’ve heard in a while. On top of both bands giving this split their absolute best individually, the two amazing and aptly-titled collaborative tracks, “Seacomings” and “MissMoss,” perfectly summarize the whole split. Even though SEA MOSS and MISCOMINGS don’t sound that much alike, they’re spiritually the best pair possible and the chemistry between them is priceless. All in all, Big Tube Scene is undoubtedly a ten out of ten in my book, and I’m ready to die on this hill.