Tempe, Arizona may not be a prolific area for expansive noise, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In fact, if Otro Mundo is any indication, there may just be a rich, black seam of anarchic sludge pop bubbling just underneath the surface, waiting for a sonic Daniel Plainview to ruthlessly suck it up like a milkshake.
The sounds that have electrified me so is Jellied, the cassette Otro Mundo put out through Ascetic House. It would be easy to put up the garage rock flag on this one, but the truth is that there is as much no wave spazz-outs and stringent pop sentiments constructing this release as there is sloppy abandon and doped-out grins. ‘Jellied’ is a fair indicator – all flannel and long hair, it roils around in the mud like an epileptic pig before revealing a neat psych flourish that for twenty seconds has you questioning the use by date on your carton of milk. It’s the aggression that is first and foremost the band’s calling card, reminiscent of Brooklyn’s The Men, and like that band Otro Mundo infuse it all with an innate sense of harmonics, not forgetting that vitriol works even better if you can enjoy listening to it.
If you want tracks to really sink your teeth into, the second and third tracks ‘Midnight Oil Burner’ and ‘Heart Thrush’ are the kickers. Beachy head-case noise meets dirge-like quicksand that infuriates and invigorates instantaneously. Under it all is the sense that these guys are as much about creating hooks and melody as they are about burying it all in hellfire and brimstone, and for that we can be eternally grateful.
Midnight Oil Burner –
Heart-Thrush –
Written By: Brendan T. (Sonic Masala)
My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Psychedelic
Jellied: Tracklist:
1.) All in Time
2.) Midnight Oil Burner
3.) Heart-Thrush
4.) Jellied
5.) Fading
BUY the cassette directly from the Otro Mundo Blogspot
Otro Mundo on Blogspot
Styrofoam Drone 