SPIN OF THE MONTH: CALIFORNIA X - SELF TITLED (2013)

This record might be close to the top of the album of the year list for me. These Amherst natives stick to the traditions of 80’s Western Mass punk and 90’s garage pop sensations. Thick layers of fuzz driven guitars, rumbling bass undertones, and vocals whirling with long hair and flannel. This eight song LP was recorded in MA by Justin Pizzoferrato, who has collaborated in the past with such bands as Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. I must say their sound doesn't stray too far from those bands either as they could be contemporaries, had they been around at the same time. However, they are are leaving their own unique mark in their hometown’s punk history with a fresh new dynamic in which they will stand amongst their own.

Tracks such as Sucker and Curse the Knightmare bring promising, straightforward riffs doused in thick, heavy sludge. When you listen to this LP it will feel as if the band is rumbling below you as you sit at home at your parents house wondering what to do with your life. Meanwhile, these long haired druggers are beneath your feet, amps cranked to 11 and ready to smash your head through a fucking wall. That might not happen when you listen to this, but I sure as hell imagine it when I do.

Pond Rot sounds exactly how it's spelled. This being the first real down tempo tune on the LP, it really gives you a murky, swamp vibe. Almost as if you were drowning not in quicksand, but vile goop surrounded by desolate wasteland from a silver haired Witch with bifocals. The pond being filled by the remains of a deep wound suffered by a giant Dinosaur (perhaps his son under the same name maybe). You catch my drift? Maybe I'm not being too clear as to how awesome this is. I'll stop with lame analogies and descriptions and just leave you with this too decide for yourselves...

FFO: Torche, Milk Music, Witch
Don Giovanni Records, 2013

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