Alex Botten has been making music for 30 years and under even more aliases. Now, he’s teamed up with bassist Steve Torrie and the possibly robotic “Mr Grover” on drums for some back-to-basics noise rock.
‘Behind The Door’ opens their 10-track debut, a distorted headrush flurry of motorik drums and extreme guitars masking a tune in the best traditions of the Jesus and Mary Chain. If anything they then speed up, for ‘Bombs of Love’, all darkly intoned vocals, recalling the relentless beats of ’80s alt.rockers Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. That theme continues with ‘Fifty-Something Goth’ (no comment), putting a catchy twist on a Sisters of Mercy vibe.
‘One Day At A Time’ is another highlight, a slightly more aggressive, in-your-face take on The Cure with swathes of guitar noise.
Of the 10 tracks most carry out their aural assault in under two minutes, aside from ‘A FanFare Of Course’, a slower beast with multilayered choral vocal and a meandering, infectious guitar hook drenched in feedback. All of which suggesting that indie kids don’t ever grow up, they just keep getting louder.
This article originally appeared in the Edinburgh News.
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