Written by: The Administrator
Going into Slow Draw's latest release, there were several indications that Living in a Land of Scarecrows was going to be a little intense. The first was the cover art, which is, as you can see, unsettling in a way that reads as extremely deliberate. There's a universal unsettling eeriness at play here. This creepy clown child feels aligned with the dark and often depressive aura of dark shadows in happy places, rather than the colorful and relaxing ambience of Yellow & Gold, Quiet Joy, or numerous other examples from Slow Draw's catalog. Given my familiarity and expectations, opening this promo email and seeing the cover art was a little jarring, which is by no means a bad thing. The second indicator was the tracklist, which consists of a single song running for 23:12 minutes. Regardless of tone, a track spanning that amount of time indicates a certain intensity, especially when the long form isn't exactly a common practice for the artist in question.
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In a continuing attempt to cover more music that would all-too-oft slip through the very large cracks, we slumbering scribes are making an effort to publish short reviews at a greater frequency, thereby shining our very small spotlight on more cool shit. Here's a mini-review of another excellent Fuzznaut track.  Written by: The Administrator When we last checked in on Fuzznaut, we slumbering scribes were reveling and relaxing in the meandering and dusty vibe of September's "Wind Doula." On this latest single, "Earbleeder," guitarist Emilio Rizzo gazes more pointedly towards noisy and hefty distortion. While still as smooth and limber as we have come to expect, this track feels a tad more aggressive, a tad less mellow. As with everything Fuzznaut does, the change is incremental and markedly subtle--there's no massive swing in sound or direction here, but the increased focus on noisy distortion is notable. There's a buzzy texture to the tone that feels a little colder, and the layers that build up to the surprisingly sharp climax feels more menacing. Of course, the title alone suggest a certain violence and/or hostility, but I feel like this is perhaps the least relaxing track to come from the Fuzznaut canon in quite some time. It recalls the atmospheric heft conjured at times by 2022's excellent Apophenia, and given my self-professed appreciation for said album, that's not a bad thing. I've really been enjoying the 2024 Fuzznaut strategy of releasing a new single on a quarterly basis, rather than dropping a full project en masse. The slow drip approach has kept Fuzznaut's music in my ears, and, subsequently, the name on my lips all year long. I'm looking forward to having "Earbleeder" take its rightful place in heavy rotation, and needless to say, I recommend giving it a listen if you're a fan of fuzzy sonic soundscapes. Rather than the typical bandcamp embed, check out the music video for below! Revel in the staticky visuals and enjoy the extensive feline cameo. Fuzznaut - Earbleeder was released Nov. 15th, 2024. Find it here! 
Written by: The Administrator
I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain it is impossible to look at this album cover and imagine it attached to anything other than some comically distorted and trippy psychedelia. Y'know, the good stuff. Terra is the debut album from Acid Arno, a self-described "loud trio" out of Berlin, and the three track contained within do not disappoint when it comes to rich fuzz and expansive acidic leads. I'm in love with this poetic and extremely apt description lifted from their promo material: Terra combines "layers of bowing deep fuzzes, lysergic delays supported by stone primal percussiveness set down in a dilated dark-trip composition." If that isn't enough, their bandcamp description states that they are "grounded to space." And yeah. I couldn't agree more. All of this is exceedingly accurate. Well said. |
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