Wither Lightning Bolt? The Providence bass and drum duo – not that type of bass and drum! – noted for their infectiously catchy and immensely noisy songs as well as their steadfast refusal to play on stages, employ a guitar player, use more than one cymbal and anything less than 2400 watts of bass amplification in even the most cramped of venue situations, seem to have somewhat disappeared off the face of our melting shitbox. After a couple of decent albums in 2005’s Hypermagic Mountain and 2009’s Earthly Delights – “decent” in the sense that they didn’t live up to the unfuckwithableness of 2001’s Ride the Skies, not an easy task for the best of careers – the band toured a ton and have since seemingly gone into long spells of periodic hibernation, only emerging to work on a variety of projects that don’t involve writing a kick ass new Lightning Bolt album.
Someone is needed to take the baton/torch/glass dildo and run with it! This isn’t to say that Portland’s Wizard Rifle is a band who simply fills a void Lightning Bolt has ignored on and off for too long a time by ripping them off titless, but it’s very obvious from whence they take certain amounts of influence. But they also cherry pick from the likes of Big Business, Karp, Torche, Kinghorse, the Melvins and Nomeansno and to these ears, that sort of sonic stew is gooey goodness to the ears. But why not hear what they have to offer for yourself? The advance track offering below, “Tears Won’t Soften Steel” comes from their debut full-length, Speak Loud Say Nothing, scheduled for release on March 13th via the fine folks at Seventh Rule Records. The duo consists of drummer/vocalist Sam Ford and guitarist/vocalist Max Dameron and has been blowing eardrums, and judging by the photo above, offending ocular and fashion sensibilities since 2009 to the tune of an EP from 2009, Kitties and Pie, tours and opening slots for the likes of Arabrot, Thrones, Atriarch, Yob and, yes, Lightning Bolt as well as the forthcoming album.
If you’re digging it, check out the links for info on their past and future music and shirts designs that are hopefully a little more understated than their own wardrobe selections.
www.wizardrifle.bandcamp.com
www.seventhrule.com
Wizard Rifle – Tears Won’t Soften Steel by seventhrule
“Tears Won’t Soften Steel” is taken from Speak Loud Say Nothing, due out on Seventh Rule on March 13th, 2012.
