You all know what is exactly one week from today, right? The fourth annual RECORD STORE DAY! This release here is easily going to be the most mind-bending exclusive for RSD, featuring two psychedelic freak shows PUFFY AREOLAS and Philadelphia’s own PURLING HISS on the same sleeve.
I know what you’re thinking: can this get any better? No, within the confines of this EP, it really can’t. But just for that fact that it’s Record Store Day on the 16th, yes, it still can. There’s still a plethora of other releases to hit the shelves, all of which you can find on this comprehensive list. There’s plenty of randoms, but those are outnumbered by the goods. Aw, no Owl City this time? Bummer! I think I still see their release from LAST record store day sitting on the shelves.
As for this 12″ we have here, it’s got a song a piece from each band on either side. Puffy Areolas takes the A-side with a totally abrasive and drastically messy psychedelic explosion. The metallic noise will leave you in a state of utter confusion, coming complete with mangled guitar squeals and plenty of freaking out – both instrumentally and vocally. Someone is definitely singing at one point, but it’s so buried in noise that it actually seems pointless to have vocals anyway. This ass-kicking wall of sound comes off as heavy and intense as it can possibly be, which at one point sounds more like a collage than your typical song. Eight minutes of berserk relentlessness definitely isn’t on everybody’s list of favorite things, which is just fair warning.
Now for a slight change of pace, flip over to the Purling Hiss side “Walking Down the Street”. This one is noticeably clearer sounding than the A-side, but don’t take that the wrong way. It’s still equally as brain-burning as “My Hell”, but “Walking Down the Street” is a little more accessible. This is because you can actually understand the vocal shrieking from time to time, and Mike Polizze’s authentic guitar-spazzing might bring you to a familiar place. His shredding is fucking dangerous, coming at you like a corrosive pile of toxic sludge washed up from the scummy Delaware River. This is proven immensely in the final three minutes, driven by a dizzying whirlwind of mind-bending guitar soloing that will leave you with your jaw on the floor. See what I mean? Not everybody shreds quite like this. This might sound easy to say, but this is straight up badass. So please, proceed with caution when checking out this stuff, because we don’t want anybody to burn the skin off their bodies.
Puffy Areolas – My Hell –
Purling Hiss – Walking Down the Street –
My Rating: 6.8/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Acid Rock, Experimental, Noise Rock
Split 12″ EP: Tracklist:
1.) My Hell
2.) Walking Down the Street
BUY this one by getting up next Saturday morning and going to the record store – find out where !
Check out this list of exclusive RSD ’11 releases
Purling Hiss – Public Service Announcement previously posted on the Drone
Find Purling Hiss in our Top 25 Albums from 2010
Permanent Records
Styrofoam Drone 
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