Psychic Paramount
(No Quarter)
An explosive burst of noise sets this CD in motion, red hot shrapnel of guitar noise flying every way from the center. Only when the shock waves have settled, does the driving, motorik beat kick in. From this point on, whistles keen, guitars scramble, bass pushes continually, frantically forward. The reckless pace continues through seven tersely named, ferociously driven tracks, with only the briefest of lyrical interludes (the end of "Intro/SP" going into "DDB" for instance). This is post-rock kamikaze-style, engines screaming engines, flames enveloping, as the music cuts a brilliant arc through space.
Two of Psychic Paramount's players -- the guitarist Drew St. Ivany and the bass player Ben Armstrong --come from disruptively brilliant, free-noise innovators Laddio Bolocko. (The third member, drummer Jeff Conaway, played in Sabers.) II follows their opening salvo Gamelan Is the Mink Supernatural by more than five years. Gossip has it that the recording process was torturous, and that much of the material had to be redone. If that's so, II shows no signs of belabored-ness, or even much premeditation. Every cut vibrates with unharnessed energy. A green sheen of radioactivity hangs over pounding, pulsing, head-bending repetition.
Occasion intervals of clarity - "RW" for instance - link Psychic Paramount to post-rock. Bits of noisy contradiction underline the connection to Laddio Bolocko. Yet for the most part, this is too hot for Tortoise comparisons, too groove-oriented to match up with Laddio. Production is such that much of what you hear is swathed in vibrating distortion -- the continuous, roll-over-the-toms drum freakouts, the howling skree of feedback -- yet the fog only heightens a sense of risk and mayhem. This is one of the most viscerally exciting rock albums of the year.
DOWNLOAD: "DDB," "N5" JENNIFER KELLY
