Lightning Bolt
Fantasy Empire
Lightning Bolt are not the kind of band you forget. Once you've heard their trademark combination of pummelling drums, distorted bass and garbled, incomprehensible vocals, they will remain stamped on your mind. So I was understandably excited when I found out they had a new album out. My enthusiasm waned a little when I noticed it was 48 minutes long - that shouldn't work. Lightning Bolt's style permits very little variation in song structure, and over the course of an album, this long they should get really, really boring. But the normal rules of music don;t apply to Lightning Bolt. They make this album work through sheer kinetic energy - somehow, despite every song being basically the same, my attention never drifted, nor did I get bored. These guys know how to keep things fun - the rhythms are perfect, the bass notes range from almost guitar-like highs to the kind of lows that I'm used to hearing in dubstep; and the interplay between the two instruments is perfect. I don't know whether these songs were carefully written out beforehand or improvised in the studio, but the dynamic between the two band members reminds me of the tightest jazz musicians. Their playing is unpredictable and technically adept without being wanky, and the entire album feels about half as long as it actually is. If you like fun, groove-based noise rock, check these guys out.
Rating: 7/10
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