Friday, May 29, 2009

I dabble in pop metal…

My strategy of asking for anything at all from Hydra Head finally ran aground with the mildly entertaining, but really kind of pretentious new album from Big Business…It came out last week, and I reviewed it today at Dusted.

Big Business
Mind the Drift
Hydra Head

Big Business grows from a two-piece to a trio with this third album, augmenting the sludgy, low-end, drum and bass buzz of the band’s Here Come the Waterworks sound with a serious melodic turn toward big floating psych riffs and three-part harmonies. Bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis take a big step away from their part-time jobs in the Melvins (and from Warren’s work in Karp) by inviting guitarist Toshi Kasai into the club. The bass may still be an ominous thunder of distortion, the drums a continual, chaotic kit-hopping roll, but the vocals now sound like a weird cross of stadium metal and the Beach Boys.

There’s a cut from Mind the Drift on my fabulous new mix, next entry down.

“Gold & Drift” can be downloaded from Spin.com

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